Thami Mazwai blasts Ntsiki's letter to Ramaphosa as disappointing
- He said that the letter was uncalled for
- Thami believes that President Cyril Ramaphosa is doing his best in a difficult situation
Thami Mazwai and his wife have distanced themselves from their daughter's letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa. The former journalist and anti-apartheid activist labelled the letter disappointing and uncalled for.
He told the SowetanLive that he was impressed with what Ramaphosa had done and they he is committed to his people:
"I believe that all of you are aware of the high esteem in which I personally hold our government," Thami said.
"The efforts by President Ramaphosa and his colleagues show their commitment to our people. I thus, on behalf of my wife and I distance us from the comments by Ntsiki." He labelled his daughter's comments as "not only unfortunate but uncalled for in a situation in which all of us must hold hands.
"I doff my hat to the President for his resolute action to save us from this pandemic, and my thanks to the Cabinet and civil service who are working day and night to stop this virus.”
Ntsiki Mazwai, a musician who has turned to social commentary has written a scathing letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa over the national lockdown.
The letter was trending on social media on Saturday evening and Sunday morning, South Africans had a lot to say regarding the contents of the letter.
Briefly.co.za learned that she took offence to the lockdown, calling it a "white solution" which would not work in Africa. She accuses the president of putting money ahead of his people.
One of the issues she mentions is that many people cannot survive for 21 days in lockdown, as they are not wealthy like him according to The Citizen.
Here is part of the letter:
“Dear Mr President
I feel like because you were never held accountable to Marikana so you didn’t learn the lesson and now you’re about to repeat the mistake on a larger scale. The fact that you broke up the company and sold it off essentially means that you ran away. The families of Marikana can ONLY remember you for how you impacted and changed their lives for the worst. You didn’t fix anything… You ran away.
Here we are again at the same place. In a different way but it’s the same lesson. You have a tendency of putting money ahead of your own people. You have a tendency to appease the white master at the expense of your people. You will never be able to rationalize why you’re a billionaire in such a poverty-stricken country and we can’t point to anything you have created. Mr president you are part of the capitalist problem that oppresses Africans on this continent.
Your white solutions are not going to work on African people. We do not have equal footing. Lucky you, 21 days will do NOTHING to your livelihood, for the vast majority of us Africans, this 21days is the difference between making ends meet and bankruptcy. You live in your nice big house in Sandhurst while the vast majority of us, in just one of your rooms we have to fit almost 10people. You planned this quarantine from a place of privilege where you didn’t consider the poverty on the ground. Have you ever been into a Squatter Camp? That’s where a lot of your people live because instead of getting us our land back in 94, you ANC comrades sold us for big houses in the North and German cars.
YOU can afford not to work for 21days, Mr President, we can’t.”
The rest of the letter can be read online.
She claims that the lockdown is a way for Ramaphosa's 'white friends' to make money off the people by encouraging panic buying during the lockdown and that he could do more to donate back to the people.
"...Mr president your white friends are making a lot of money from this.... How are they giving back to the country in this time of crisis? Pls don't tell me about the money they donated because that money is paying for itself in profits."
In other news, Briefly.co.za reported on 67 churchgoers who have tested positive for Covid-19, Reverend Kenneth Meshoe is among them. He had contact with political leaders after the event where he was infected. Among those leaders was Cyril Ramaphosa.
Source: Briefly.co.za
