South Africa: We Cannot Sweep Differences Under the Rainbow

opinion

Johannesburg — JM COETZEE's novel, Disgrace, remains a hauntingly honest portrait of our rainbow nation's fragility. But we ignored its diagnosis, and shed no tears when its eccentric author packed up and left.

Yet the alleged killing by Johan Nel of four people in Skielik recently serves as a violent reminder that we have been living in false consciousness all along. In fact, we've been behaving like functional alcoholics since 1994. Why seek therapy when you are still able to negotiate with your colleagues, loved ones and friends without giving up the bottle? Similarly, as long as black and white kids can attend the same schools without killing each other, and their parents sit on the same parent teacher association, race relations must be great, right? This illusion is fed by an emerging black middle class, as well as a critical explosion of black heroes in entertainment, sport, and even business.

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