a letter from helgé janssen to sabelo dludla on the subject of zulu nationalism
dear sabstance
your response pains me. it pains me because although you are obviously educated you seem to be blinded by Zulu nationalism. has it not dawned on you that we are living in a multiparty democracy? why are you afraid of criticism? why do you equate criticism with hate? where have i claimed authority on zulu culture? it is a trait of nationalism to reject criticism because it opens up dialogue. it is not me who is being fascist, but you.
during apartheid the afrikaner used exactly the same argument to prevent and intimidate people from criticising their government. so your response resonates with what i (and weren’t there many many others?) had experienced as intransigence of the apartheid state. only afrikaners were allowed to criticise afrikaners. hence they blocked all forms of growth and simply became more intransigent. history has documented this well. it is not strange therefore that apartheid forms part of this discourse.
but please read my article again carefully. it is angry, yes and it is a bit of a rant. i make no excuses for that. but where is the hate speech? criticism is not hate. where is the objection to the practice of zulu rituals? please think carefully for you are making accusations against me which are unfounded. you completely gloss over classroom disobedience. must i conclude that it is zulu culture to be disobedient? i take it you are an authority on zulu culture? there was nothing normal about the disobedience i experienced. what do you see as normal about learners walking in and out of a classroom at will and for any reason? Where is it normal for learners to interfere with my right to teach - and come to think of it the right of other learners to learn? teenage learners who do not comprehend wrong doing? the matric and grade 11 learners were 4 weeks behind with their syllabus when i took over from their previous teacher. i did not create the syllabus in order to burden zulu culture with learning. you seem to be confusing issues. as an educator (you are an educator yes?) you should be alarmed at these experiences, not try to defend them as ‘normal learner behaviour’. I am not letting this matter rest with the education department.
you completely gloss over the issue of human rights in your response. from what you say you seem to have been educated at a time where human rights were not discussed in your environment. i did not invent human rights in order to prevent the zulu nation from practicing their rituals.
from the affidavit information post 8 (on the kagablog responses) it seems that chiefs can change a ‘custom’ in order to save their own skins (they don’t like to die, do they?) but cannot see how suffocating an animal to death is not an acceptable alternative? we are living in a democracy. people have a right to air their views.
does the word ‘trauma’ not have any meaning for you? i do not use the word lightly.
i am sorry that you had a nightmare about my article. but i had more than nightmares when teaching those learners, that’s for sure. i became suicidal, depressed, insomniac, unable to function. the experience defied and denied rationale.
December 5th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
and so
the blahican..
is blah blahing
again.
December 6th, 2009 at 9:11 am
could an expert on zulu culture please explain to me why (other than to show disrespect for themselves and to disrupt the lesson) female zulu learners (its never the male) snort their snot extremely loudly?
December 6th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
could someone explain
why mista janssen seem
to be airing his rather dirt
smeared, and opinionated laundry
in this space,
suffice to say we have read
and re-read his diatribe on such matters
and have long since opined,
our own conclusion..move on
nothing to be gained here..
are we to grow from such ..nega vibes..
December 6th, 2009 at 10:55 pm
dear femi
be in for a surprise…
what helge does is called:
freedom of speech
all the best,andrea
December 6th, 2009 at 11:32 pm
dearest andrea
yes,what janssen
does is the free doom
of speech..
unfortunately ..
there is nothing
to be gained
here
from such
whinging..(surprise)
December 7th, 2009 at 7:43 am
hi femi….a class room is a public space, not a private bedroom, hence this is a far from ‘dirty laundry’. the comment came about as a direct result of your feigned boredom. you would no doubt be shocked by what is discussed in the classroom! i take it as a compliment that many learners discuss intimate details they dare not speak to their mothers about! sexual reproduction is a vital part of the life science syllabus. this is particularly pertinent in this time of the aids pandemic.
but abuse by learners (by anybody) and unfounded accusations (also a form of abuse), are something else! i speak from direct experience, not from hearsay. all too often (particularly in the case of domestic abuse) people are too afraid to speak out. and you call this whinging? must i now be intimidated into silence? where do you live? in a male dominated world where everything is neatly ordered….and closed..and revolves around…you? is this not what chauvinism encapsulates?
yes, speech is a powerful tool….pity you experience it as ‘doom’. hello? any good psychologists out there?
December 7th, 2009 at 8:47 am
These chauvinistic zulu females,snorting snot and getting all snotty with free doom’s fragile ego.At least we are cutting closer to the bone.
“where is the objection to the practice of zulu ritual?”
“I did not invent human rights in order to prevent the zulu nation from practicing their rituals”
Yebo,as was said above,Blah Blah Blah,Aha,what you know and what you don’t ,Aha !
December 7th, 2009 at 9:11 am
honey, my ego is far from fragile. ego is a useful tool for focus, not for domination. do you understand the difference? name calling? how immature is that? pullease!
hello? any wannabe psychologists out there?
December 7th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
honey? namecalling?
any ritualistic sangomas out there?
December 7th, 2009 at 8:16 pm
again, very well argued, helge.
December 8th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
but helge this is not criticism - these are blown out of proportion statements you try to qualify by first telling us that you taught at a zulu school. if you must know, zulu culture itself believes in criticism and building opinion and we have sayings like ‘okuhlula amadoda kuyabikwa’, ‘ukuhlanganisa amakhanda’. Your prejudices fail you beause you seem to be speaking for ‘democracy’ and ‘human rights’ - Whose democracy??
In Zulu we call politics ‘umbangazwe’ meaning ‘the state of fighting for the land’ and we believe we don;t have to fight for the land that is rightfully ours. It is the same with democracy, we never said democracy was a good ‘ideology’ to govern the world so don’t speak as if the zulus are not falling in line, the zulu’s never drew the line in the first place, white people did.
your idea of ‘human right’ ‘animal rights’ are results of seeing the abuse for human and animals alike - gues who was doing the abuse….not the zulus
so how do you conclude your failure to gain rapport with a bunch of school kids as the disfuncionality trait in the whole zulu nation.
criticism must be based on fact, undemeaning and not so patronising…
December 8th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
Please note that by ‘normal’ i mean it spreads throughout countries and communities not Zulu only behaviour.
also while the children are self-destructive i don’t see how you as an educator can expect me to defend you when you are here to defend yourself. am defending the zulus you drag in the mud you are here to defend yourselve.
also i said in my writing that the zulus’ have changed and transformed their cultural practices and do not really need to be taken to court. what precedence are we actually creating when we ask the courts to rule on culture, are we gonna arrest the rastafarians for using dagga?
December 8th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
my original article was a comment based on fact. it is not uncommon for artists to write and air their views on the current state of affairs. newspapers employ journalists to do exactly this. and most times they employ them because they are not afraid to be controversial. now i do not deny that my article was controversial and provocative. you obviously do not have to agree with me. but don’t fabricate allegations in order to try and victimise me in your obvious knee jerk reaction. i was extremely disturbed by the zulu response to ‘saving the bull’ in the media and was shocked to realise that what i had just been experiencing in a government institution (where i expected to encounter normal levels of learner behaviour) was alarmingly similar. surely you understand the concept ‘violence breeds violence’? while these experiences may be shocking to you and to any fair minded ‘south african’ i assure you they are not blown out of proportion. i have broken the intolerable silence that has enslaved educators into putting up with huge amounts of abuse from learners - and in this particular school they were groups of zulu learners. as i said (and it seems i need to repeat this) the brilliant learners (hello? these are zulu learners i am talking about) held absolutely no sway whatsoever and were intimidated into silence. do you not understand how intimidation works and why it is such a scourge in our society? in this instance of course it is not only the zulu who intimidates but it always is the chauvinist who intimidates. my particular experience was very up close and personal and very zulu.
chauvinism is about denial, and sadly you seem to be exhibiting this trait rather clearly.
ooops…sorry…now where did i get this idea that we were living in a democracy? is it anarchy and lawlessness and money grabbing and any form of violence? i had no idea that this country had a different set of laws for the zulus. is this why the zulus think they can do whatever they like? is this why the zulu pupils in the school think they can do whatever they like? sorry for once again being patronising but which part of this connection do you not follow?
it is all very well to have ’sayings’ but where is the evidence that they exist in practice? i can blurt forth any of the array of noble sayings. ‘owning’ them does not automatically preclude nobility of deed. it is the deed that proves the point. so where is the deed? i cannot say i see much (if any) of it.
abuse? the zulu’s do not know the meaning of abuse?
where have you been living these last 15 years?
where are the ‘blown out of proportion statements’? why would i want to blow these experiences out of proportion? i am not trying to drum up hatred for the zulu nation. must i now give you specific examples of what i experienced at the hands of the zulu learners in the school? here is one: i could not sit and mark in my classroom peacefully. learners would kick in the door and then run down the corridor slamming the window slats loudly, then run away. no prefects or teachers were able to do anything. there was never an investigation into these events when i brought them up in the staff room.
no, i cannot conclude that my failure to gain rapport with a ‘bunch of school kids’ as the dysfunctionality trait in the whole zulu nation. but i can make comparisons. i apologise for making an example of the zulu nation, but i am witnessing an alarming trait that if not dealt with soonest by the powers that be, could result in history repeating itself. and is this not one of the first things the anc said when we held our first democratic election: ‘never again’?
December 8th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
this is becoming convoluted to be more than jus simply airing of opinions and such it is becoming a tug o war with no real end in sight.
nowhere is there a neutral tone set by mista j, on the merits of his teaching,after all teachers are held accountable to higher standards,while the problem might be a zulu class it is not by any means zulu people or the lack therein , such fodder of opinion misses its mark and creates a fire that is now brewing right here ..
indeed one white man’s sin does not make the entire white populus, guilty, or does it..nothing to be gained here..
be that as it may the blah of the blahican continues.
December 8th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
and another thing.. i live in a highly euro centric world where everything is organized around them.. not me,please refrain from mud slinging and stick to your points ..if there are any left at this point in time..
December 13th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
Ha ha ha ha ha ha Helge I rest my case the Zulus must have done you bad. I hope you find it in your heart to forgive them.
December 13th, 2009 at 8:43 pm
However am not gonna stop being me because it scares you Helge. Am not gonna apologize for being who I am because you don’t like it. You might then wanna get over it as we are often told.
December 15th, 2009 at 1:05 am
amen amen
cue end credits
December 15th, 2009 at 1:42 am
@sabstance
i have already forgiven them for the fault lies not with them but in a lack of sound leadership. after all they are children…but it is because you are you that i can be me….it is your ‘zuluness’ that contributes to the whole…so you are mistaken if you think i do not like it…i cannot expect you to apologise for your zuluness any more than i can apoligise for my whiteness…i have always been inspired by the zulu nation….but the zulus must accept the fact (eventually) that certain ‘adaptatons’ may become necessary….it is a lack of reason that scares me….we live in a global community, that is what our freedom encapsulats…and like it or not, that is the common denominator where all cultures meet….but great to see you have a sense of humour!! out on the streets of durban i get an amazing vibe of soulness…
December 16th, 2009 at 4:29 am
but the zulus must accept the fact (eventually) that certain ‘adaptatons’ may become necessary..
no helge, to the contrary,
it is you who must accept the fact adaptations is necessary,(adapt or die is the motto of the 21st century) and that you and your grandchild must now live in a world
where you will never ever be the status quo..again..simple..
December 16th, 2009 at 7:42 am
When in Rome do as Romans do. When in France, French is necessary. When in Africa change Africa to suit the globe. Isn’t that colonisation-or is it civilization?? Changing people to suit your values and perception. You say you are ‘white’ and I’m Zulu, What therefore is ‘white culture’ since you are tearing down Zulu culture.
December 16th, 2009 at 7:53 am
are you guys from the farm?
December 16th, 2009 at 9:35 am
i am very perplexed, and not a little disturbed, by this opposition of “whiteness” and “zuluness”
i have always found something truly obscene about so-called white people getting upset about cruelty to animals when millions of so-called blacks live in conditions that are so structurally terrible as to constitute torture.
for me let’s eradicate the conditions of structural cruelty that millions of so-called black people live in in south africa and then we can get around to dealing with ingrained cultural practices that may be offensive to a middle class so-called white sense of what is acceptable or not.
we can only share those values once we all live that lifestyle. until then the animals are going to suffer. so be it. humans first i say.
i have stopped being surprised about so-called white people’s priorities. they are always more concerned about animals than so-called blacks, other humans, because, deep down, they don’t want the playing field to be levelled. they are quite happy with the status quo being skewed in their favour.
for the same reason that the zulus can expect nothing from the so-called whites, so the so-called whites must cease and desist from their expectations of the zulus. the time for a settler disengagement from zululand is at hand, or at least, for a settler-mentality disengagement.
justice comes through the barrell of a gun. there is no other way.
more urgent than this bull nonsense is the fact that in kwa-zulu natal today, members of abahlali basemjondolo have gone underground, for fear of their lives; that s’bu zikode has gone underground for fear of his life. these are urgent matters of concern. we will get to the bulls when the (so-called black) people are free and safe to express their opinions.
December 16th, 2009 at 10:19 am
As we know, down on the farm ,more cattle gets slaughtered every day in Zulu rituals,than those lining up in front of the abbatoirs of “civilisation”.As Fela said,”Teacher do’nt teach me nonsense!” Enough of this Bullshit !
December 16th, 2009 at 10:34 am
good bye and good night
December 16th, 2009 at 9:10 pm
ehm ummm..amen.. roll credits..
again.
December 16th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
and remember.. humans first i say.
December 21st, 2009 at 11:15 am
I subscribe to the human first. I just think we need to understand our interconnectedness. When colonisation and apartheid took from ‘black pride’ it gave to ‘white pride’ as a result we have a section of white South Africans with sooo much esteem it is supremism-these are the people who don’t want ‘black esteem’ to be built cos they know it will take from them. Self determination extends to cultural beliefs, chosing not to honour your fathers murder(apartheid and british settlers), & reviving ur culture!
December 21st, 2009 at 3:59 pm
when we sit at the global table we are able to see the confounding of the languages based on..
white supremacy..
our socalled interconnectedness.. no matter how one puts it passive or otherwise is based on the nature of the very thing we are trying to irradicate,whiteness,its awkwardness, and its supremacy over others..