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| South Africa: race row over Zuma's 'compound' | South Africa: race row over Zuma's 'compound' |
| (5 months later) | |
| In South Africa this week, the word "compound" joined "refugee" as an apparently innocuous word that has become the centre of a debate around racism. The circumstances under which they were used are quite different, but both presented ANC spin doctors with gift-wrapped opportunities to distract the public and their supporters from real issues of delivery and corruption. | In South Africa this week, the word "compound" joined "refugee" as an apparently innocuous word that has become the centre of a debate around racism. The circumstances under which they were used are quite different, but both presented ANC spin doctors with gift-wrapped opportunities to distract the public and their supporters from real issues of delivery and corruption. |
| In the case of refugee, opposition leader Helen Zille caused a storm when she used the word in a tweet to refer to Eastern Cape immigrants who had moved to the Western Cape for better standards of education. | In the case of refugee, opposition leader Helen Zille caused a storm when she used the word in a tweet to refer to Eastern Cape immigrants who had moved to the Western Cape for better standards of education. |
| This time, she's managed to do it again, when talking about expensive plans to upgrade the home of the president, Jacob Zuma. Zille chose to describe Zuma's home in Nkandla - which has been called KwaZulu-Natal's Disney Land - not as an estate, a manor, a homestead or even property, but as a compound. | This time, she's managed to do it again, when talking about expensive plans to upgrade the home of the president, Jacob Zuma. Zille chose to describe Zuma's home in Nkandla - which has been called KwaZulu-Natal's Disney Land - not as an estate, a manor, a homestead or even property, but as a compound. |
| Now, neither compound nor refugee are words with inherently racial connotations. The Merriam-Webster definition of compound is "a fenced or walled-in area containing a group of buildings and especially residences". The Kennedys have a compound. So does the US president. Expats in Saudi Arabia live in compounds, and the word is typically used for military installations. | Now, neither compound nor refugee are words with inherently racial connotations. The Merriam-Webster definition of compound is "a fenced or walled-in area containing a group of buildings and especially residences". The Kennedys have a compound. So does the US president. Expats in Saudi Arabia live in compounds, and the word is typically used for military installations. |
| But context is everything, and anyone who has grown up in South Africa will know that the word has been used, historically, to refer to accommodation for black workers, as this definition makes clear. The compound was as much a feature of the apartheid system as townships and passes. As a child, when I talked about "the compound", it was where black people lived on the farm, and I'll admit to being astonished when I first heard it used in the context of Nkandla. | But context is everything, and anyone who has grown up in South Africa will know that the word has been used, historically, to refer to accommodation for black workers, as this definition makes clear. The compound was as much a feature of the apartheid system as townships and passes. As a child, when I talked about "the compound", it was where black people lived on the farm, and I'll admit to being astonished when I first heard it used in the context of Nkandla. |
| What's not surprising is that the ANC should seize on this and use it to deflect attention from the real issue. What is surprising is that the opposition Democratic Alliance should have chosen to use this particular word, especially given the way the refugee debacle played out. Yet again, they handed the race card to their detractors on a platter, complete with a sprig of parsley and a decorative pattern of balsamic glaze. | What's not surprising is that the ANC should seize on this and use it to deflect attention from the real issue. What is surprising is that the opposition Democratic Alliance should have chosen to use this particular word, especially given the way the refugee debacle played out. Yet again, they handed the race card to their detractors on a platter, complete with a sprig of parsley and a decorative pattern of balsamic glaze. |
| The more those in power are able to position legitimate criticism as racist, the more it is able to reassure a supporter base for whom racism is a real, painful and frightening issue that it genuinely has their interests at heart. | The more those in power are able to position legitimate criticism as racist, the more it is able to reassure a supporter base for whom racism is a real, painful and frightening issue that it genuinely has their interests at heart. |
| "To see racial prejudice behind every white South African's criticism of Zuma is nothing short of silly and cynical," The Times argued in an editorial. "But, because (Zuma's spokesperson Mac) Maharaj cannot possibly defend the Nkandla compound, he resorts to the oldest black trick in the book." | "To see racial prejudice behind every white South African's criticism of Zuma is nothing short of silly and cynical," The Times argued in an editorial. "But, because (Zuma's spokesperson Mac) Maharaj cannot possibly defend the Nkandla compound, he resorts to the oldest black trick in the book." |
| The damage has inevitably been done. Yet again, the DA has taken a neutral concept and fashioned it into a weapon to be used against them. Yet again they've managed to take an opportunity to grab the high ground on an issue that should matter to every South African regardless of political affiliation and make a hash of it. | The damage has inevitably been done. Yet again, the DA has taken a neutral concept and fashioned it into a weapon to be used against them. Yet again they've managed to take an opportunity to grab the high ground on an issue that should matter to every South African regardless of political affiliation and make a hash of it. |
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