Viewpoint: Divisive Rhodes statue debate anti-transformation

 
By Sanjeev “Mahatma” Gupta
Xolela Mangcu, an academic and promiment columnist, could not have been more spot on when he observed that the Rhodes statue debate is a microcosm of the racial tension that has been simmering for a long time on campuses of institutions of higher learning countrywide, and the UCT is just an isolated case.
The fear – and very justified – is that this could be a spanner in the works of the economic transformation project that the country needs to succeed for to redress the dark past’s economic imbalance. In no doubt, for the country to progress, South Africans of all racial persuasions need to share have unity in purpose in addressing the most pressing challenge: economic growth for the benefit of all South Africans.
It is very ironic that what seems to be a petty issue over a statue of a bigoted colonist who died over a century ago has sparked a furious national debate which is once more exposing the shameful racial divisions we try so hard to pretend don’t exist. What makes it all the more farcical is that this is taking place during the Human Rights celebration, when the country should be more tolerant of each other. Reprehensible indeed!
Can’t we expend our energies where they are needed the most?