Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe on Monday weighed in on the Jimmy Manyi controversy while on a visit to the United States.
Motlanthe said there were people who were seeking to undermine affirmative action who were taking advantage of Manyi’s remarks. He did not name specific people or organisations.
“They wait for a black person, who sees things in black and white, to make a statement and then they say, ‘that is racism in reverse’,” Motlanthe told an audience at a public lecture at New York University.
He joked that while it was difficult to find a white person who supported apartheid, there were still some who wanted to “backslide”.
“You will not find one single white South African who ever supported apartheid. Not one. All of them had black friends,” said Motlanthe to the audience’s laughter. “But some people will want to backslide.”
Motlanthe was joined at the event by Minister of Higher Education, Blade Nzimande.
Development challenges in Africa offerred opportunities for academics in the United States and elsewhere to make a meaningful contribution, Motlanthe told his audience.
“We call upon the American people in different fields of human endeavour to once again join hands with us so that together we can contribute to the achievement of these important goals of reconstruction and development.
“In effect, challenges of development in Africa offer opportunities for academics and intellectuals in the United States and elsewhere in the developed world to make a meaningful contribution in this regard,” he said.
“The partnership we are calling for works out to a win-win situation in that Africa is ripe with opportunities. “What this means is that while the American partners bring invaluable capital investment, they also stand to gain in terms of healthy returns,” he said.
Motlanthe said the “dismal picture” painted of Africa after independence had now been replaced by “optimism of an Africa determined to turn the corner and claim its place in history”.
“The sustainability of all our attempts to build an Africa that can claim its place and catch up with the rise and speed of development of the emerging powers, will largely be informed by sound institutions necessary to provide support to commerce-driven development, under free, just and democratic political arrangements,” he said.
Motlanthe is on a four-day working visit to the US to strengthen bilateral, political and economic ties. He will visit New York, Washington and Chicago. - Sapa