Dear Sir,

This letter is written in response to the Politicsweb article "On witchcraft and racism." Those two pieces written by Xolela Mangcu caught my eye too.

Mangcu seems to believe in a genus of "race guilt" that whites in SA should acknowledge and confess. Basically what it boils down to is that you and I are somehow co-responsible for Bullard's column, for the UOFS video and for the Skierlik murders, to name just a few.

Since when do people incur guilt for the actions of third parties whom they have never met and for whose actions they are not even remotely responsible? Merely because we happen to share the same skin colour as the perpetrators? What would the legal content and consequences of such vicarious liability be? How would the "whirlwind of hate" - revenge taken against "defenceless children" - be a logical consequence and appropriate response on the part of my fellow black citizens?

I was born after Sharpeville. I got the vote when Verwoerd and Vorster were already dead. I have never belonged to any political party and never will. I always voted against the Nats in each and every "white" election. I voted "yes" in every referendum where the subject of voting rights and political participation for non-white people came up. I suspect that my biggest "transgression" during the Freedom Struggle was that I never indulged in the blowing up of civilians in restaurants and bars, like for example that brave and fearless freedom fighter (unnamed, now head of a Metro Police force) did. More than 99% of black people took the same approach as I on this score. Are they and I therefore all enemies of the people and today still intransigent supporters of Apartheid?

Today in 2008 my neighbourhood, like every neighbourhood in this country, is under daily (nightly!?) attack from murderous swine who kill, rape and rob at will. The perpetrators are virtually without exception black. The victims in my area are virtually without exception white. Do I then draw the conclusion and make the generalisation that blacks are all racists, rapists, murderers and robbers? Do I insist that Mangcu and our black countrymen apologise and accept liability for the actions of these criminals? Of course not.

Mangcu's suggestion that we should take part in a "march against racism" organised by whites is probably the epitome of naivety. Firstly, he does not understand that middle class people, regardless of race, never partake in "mass action". I would never in a million years dream of taking part in something so potentially dangerous and where I would have no control over the actions of fellow marchers and spectators. Secondly, he ignores the fact that such "mass action" would have no impact whatsoever on the racial attitudes of any single (white) person or any real or perceived grouping of (white) people. Let me repeat the statement: Marching (against anything) achieves nothing, despite what the collectivists may like to think and how good the act of marching may make them feel on the day. Thirdly, how would such a march prevent the recurrence of something like the UOFS video, or the Skierlik shootings? What possible causality can Mangcu perceive to be at work here? Does he regard humans to be nothing more than a herd of mindless animals who would keep each other in line by means of vigilantism?

Here is what I do to make things better. I pay a six-figure tax every year so that the government can educate children, feed the poor and heal the sick. I treat each and every person like I would have them treat me. I avoid stereotypes and labelling people on the basis of their skin colour. I do not blame any imagined group ("black people" or "white people") for the wrongs perpetrated by individuals. I do not particularly identify with any imagined group ("black people" or "white people"). I employ and feed a handful of poor families, who just so happen to be black, and enable their children to go to school. I have a deep mistrust of all politicians and promote the same attitude in my children. I do my utmost to identify and combat "group-think" wherever I perceive it.

What should Mangcu and every citizen of this country really be deeply concerned about? The fact that less than 2% of black matriculants leave school with the requisite mathematical skill to provide the doctors, scientists, accountants, pilots and engineers this country needs to become globally successful. That is what we need to focus on, not the holding of marches that give us a warm and fuzzy feeling for a couple of hours. And certainly not the laying of collective blame on the basis of skin colour.

Best regards,

"Darwin"