A South African writer living in America was shocked at the outpouring of racist vitriol after she posted about Nelson Mandela on an ex-pat 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.
An updated version of the book, originally published in August 1999, was released this month. “Going into 2nd printing within 18 days of launch. It shows how much the world values our Madiba,” she wrote. Her post was met with a flood of racist and anti-SA sentiments. The comments included:
* “The agreement signed by Mandela is that all the whites will be wiped out once Mandela dies. Seems they can’t wait.”
* “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.”
* “This site consist (sic) 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.”
* “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 SA living in New Zealand.” She was asked not to post related remarks in future.
Kleynhans did not respond to a request for comment.
Smith told the Cape Times that 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... 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 people were past this”.
* Smith was raped and stabbed in her Johannesburg home in 1999 and later published an account of her ordeal. In 2004, she wrote an article about the prevalence of rape in SA, earning a stinging personal criticism from then president Thabo Mbeki.
Cape Times