Author shocked at racist vitriol over book
June 26 2012 at 09:00am
Michelle Jones
A SOUTH African writer living in the US was shocked at the outpouring of racist vitriol after posting about Nelson Mandela on an expat Facebook page.
Charlene Smith, author of Mandela: In Celebration of a Great Life, posted about the success of the book on the Safri-Kiwi page last week, which serves readers in New Zealand.
The book was first published in August 1999 and the updated version was released earlier this month.
“Going into 2nd printing within 18 days of launch. It shows how much the world values our Madiba,” she wrote.
Instead of the positive reaction Smith had expected, her post was met with a flood of racism, hate and anti-SA sentiments.
The comments included:
l “The agreement, signed by Mandela, is that all the whites will be wiped out once Mandela dies. Seems they can’t wait.”
l “Clearly your eyes were closed when you spewed your accolades to St Mandela. It’s the only possible way you could have overcome your nausea.”
l “This site consists of people that left their country because they couldn’t live in a place where their families got murdered and raped and now you want to come and advertise a book about the father of terror in SA.”
l “I still don’t know why people think so heavenly about Mandela. Please remove the picture it’s making me nautious (sic).”
The posts have since been deleted.
Smith, who has lived in the US for nearly two years, was then contacted by Ronel Kleynhans, administrator of the Safri-Kiwi page.
“I will be removing your post about Mandela. This is because we do not tolerate any post that flair (sic) up any racist remarks. This group is for the purpose of supporting people from South Africa living in New Zealand. I must ask you not to post any related articles, remarks or opinions in the future.”
Kleynhans did not respond to a request for comment.
Smith said she had expected people to be overjoyed by any good news about Mandela.
“As a South African living abroad one is always thrilled to hear a South African accent. Last year I ran after a woman wearing a Springbok rugby jersey in a shopping mall just to say hello.
“But when we encounter people like this it is really dispiriting, it makes you feel as though you want to disengage completely from South Africans.
“I’m not interested in those who discriminate regardless of their race group. They shame the nation and themselves.”
She had “foolishly somehow thought that people were past this”.
“It again makes one realise how remarkable Madiba was, because these were the sort of people he was encountering as warders in jail, and to think that he came out and wanted to forgive, to reconcile, to heal.
“That helps us realise what an extraordinary man he is, and how little the rest of us are in comparison.”
l Smith was raped and stabbed in her Joburg home in 1999 and later published her account and her quest to obtain anti-retroviral drugs.
In 2004 she published an article about the prevalence of rape in SA, earning a stinging personal criticism from then president Thabo Mbeki.
