Dear esteemed Emeritus, Archbishop Tutu.
I must say that I am a young South African brought up on the basis of respect and self-respect; amongst other things is to respect the elders both on the basis of their age and that they possess the untrammelled acquired life experiences that can only serves as life lessons to the young, like myself. But it becomes a difficult situation to the young to handle when the elders, no less the revered ones like yourself and veteran Ronnie Kasrils, mutates from elderly statesmanship to the status of being villains. As Archbishop, as a recipient of Nobel peace prize and as an Anti-apartheid campaigner your stature has been an oracle of divinity whose eminent citizenship in South Africa has been regarded as our benediction, like that of the colossus such as Mandela, OR Tambo and Sisulus.
Whereas you are notches below those struggle colossuses but the nation had curve your own historical niche; as an eminent person, a figure of righteousness and moral sanctity in your own right. These attachments to a human being are not automatic but they are earned. They are equally serviced and recharged. Search to history! a yesteryear valiant can be a today's villain.
You convened media in 2009 to announce your intention to the nation that you are not going to vote because of disenchantment about ANC. But you did not ask a meeting with the ANC to engage it about your issues of unhappiness, instead preferred, press conferences to communicate to the World about your decision. This is because, you are important and the ego of self-importance in you seem pervasive.
Your anger against the non-arrival of the Dalai Lama to your birthday lecture led you to convene a press conference where you committed to pray for the downfall of this ANC government. I mean the same Mandela ANC government that everywhere in the World you are fly-carting in order to dine with Kings and the Nobles.
Upon realizing that you were not part of the program in Mandela's funeral you therefore busked and issued a statement to the World claiming non-invitation and that you are boycotting it. Anyone has ever been invited to attend any funeral?
We are few days towards May elections. Again, the self-righteousness in you has arisen, like Sidikiwe brigade, you feel compelled to educate the nation to ask God which party to vote for as you, Archbishop, will not vote for the ANC. Again, you convened a one man press conference for this.
Why you still think South Africans see you differently from any other aged retired citizen. Why this unmitigated lust for media stunt and headline publicity quest for all wrong reasons. Your idiosyncrasies are in fact blasphemous and only fit the consignment that history tellers will package in the Museum of antiquity files.
But you can still redeem yourself though, whilst you live. I still respect you.
Khaye Nkwanyana is the SACP Provincial executive member in KZN and ANC Communication Subcommittee. Writing on his personal capacity.
Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter
