LETTER FROM THE DM168 EDITOR
If I were an alien that landed on Earth, I’d douse SA in a potent serum to combat empathy and humour deficiency
South Africa suffered a humour fail this week in response to a satirical takedown of the controversial old anti-apartheid song Dubul’ ibhunu.
Dear DM168 reader,
I was excused from my newspaper duty last week to attend MBA classes and do some strategic work with my Daily Maverick colleagues from different departments in the Western Cape. So, like many of you when you are focusing on important stuff like family, friends, work, study and community involvement, some bits of the news passed me by.
DM168 is one way of catching up with the important contextual, insightful and entertaining soul food stuff you might have missed in your daily grind. Another way I keep in touch, I must admit, is through my regular “Did you know?” TikTok reports from my 12-year-old son.
With these reports, I instinctively put on my journalist truth-detection armour. I ask, “What’s the source behind that? Have you checked the facts?” As you can imagine, this drives my son to distraction.
One of the incredible stories he alerted me to was that the US government is hiding evidence of UFOs. On further investigation in the research-based, academic-journalistic platform The Conversation, I learnt that David Grusch, a retired US Air Force intelligence officer, claimed in a congressional subcommittee meeting on 26 July 2023 that crashed UFOs, or unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs), had yielded biological material of non-human origin, and that the US government had embarked on a crash-retrieval and reverse-engineering programme to which he was denied access.
So, have the aliens made first contact? Are we being invaded or researched by civilisations from galaxies far, far away? No, we don’t know for sure, not unless there is actual physical evidence of crashed UAPs and non-human, non-Earth species’ DNA, cautions astronomer Chris Impey, who sits on an advisory council for an international group that strategises how to communicate with an extraterrestrial civilisation if the need occurs.
The possibility of first contact with civilisations from another part of the universe excites and intrigues me, because I’m admittedly a sci-fi geek who has been obsessed with this possibility ever since, as a four-year-old, I saw pictures of the first landing on the moon.
Wake-up call
It also intrigues me because I am confronted daily by the reality that we humans are torn apart by narrow nationalism; ignorance; battles for power and control over resources; hatred; greed; misunderstanding; and fear of each other. I often wonder whether being confronted by another – superior – apex species will be our final wake-up call to consider the greater good of all who inhabit this planet. Or will we continue to turn against each other in a mad version of survival of the fittest?
A recent example of misunderstanding and fear based neither on facts nor evidence in our beloved country (which may or may not have been captured by malevolent aliens having fun turning us against each other) is the furore over Julius Malema’s singing of the old anti-apartheid song Dubul’ ibhunu at the EFF’s 10th anniversary rally.
Now, please don’t get me wrong: singing “Kill the boer, kill the farmer” in a democratic South Africa, where farmers of all hue literally provide our daily bread, meat, fruit and vegetables and, in doing so, provide jobs for 888,000 people is just plain populist, rabble-rousing bullshit.
As my colleague Richard Poplak cleverly puts it: Singing ‘Kill the Boer’ while wearing Gucci loafers is just cosplay by a racketeer masquerading as a politician.
But still, many wary and anxious white South Africans on the platform formerly known as Twitter, led by its owner, South African-born Elon Musk, view Malema’s singing the song as a portent of imminent white genocide.
In his column on TimesLive, Jonathan Jansen reminds us that neither before, during nor after apartheid has there ever been white genocide in South Africa. Even after Janusz Waluś, a white immigrant from Poland, killed the popular black leader Chris Hani in 1993, there was no genocide in retaliation. Not like there was in Rwanda or Nazi Germany. Jansen exhorts us all to calm down:
“There will not be any white genocide; that is a hysterical overreaction to an old and troubled song. In the same vein, drawing parallels to Hitler’s extermination policies or Mussolini’s fascism is just bad social science. The history, culture and politics of this country is overwhelmingly one of racial accommodation, even in the face of the extreme provocation of apartheid.”
Wicked humour
Poplak’s reaction to the genocidal fear furore on social media was typical of his wicked humour, which anyone who reads his writing would recognise as his brand of satire. He wrote: “What wine pairs best with white genocide?”, to which one of Daily Maverick’s contributors, law professor Pierre de Vos, responded: “Allesverloren blanc de blanc.”
A tweeter, or Xer, by the name of Renaldo Gouws mistakenly assumed editor-at-large Poplak was actually editor-in-chief and called on followers to spam our info@dailymaverick inbox. This in an effort to get our board of directors, which comprises our real editor-in-chief Branko Brkic and CEO Styli Charalambous, to deal with Poplak as “there should be no place for such terrible comments in South Africa”.
The spamming has taken on a life of its own, but it has also become ominous. Here is one threatening example from one Herman Coetser:
“If you think this is appropriate in a country where racial tensions is [sic] running high, then let me be the first to say the violence that’s about to erupt will start at your offices. Sort your people out or we will!”
Is Mr Coetser going to find Poplak and donder him? Is he going to line up every one of us at Daily Maverick and smack us over the heads with a pap snoek or kudu biltong? Or maybe he is threatening to commit the world’s first genocide against the 150 people who work for a South African media company?
Poplak has responded to the furore and explained the context of his tweet in an excellent article. I doubt many of those who were angered by his humour will bother to read it, but as you are thinking people, I would encourage you to do so. It’s brilliant and it will let you know that we at Daily Maverick are not in the business of advocating the killing of anyone for any reason whatsoever.
If I were a visitor from a more advanced civilisation in outer space, the first thing I would do on Earth is spray a potent serum in the atmosphere. This would result in the mass genocide of truth deficiency, fact deficiency, empathy deficiency, understanding deficiency and, dare I say, a sense of humour deficiency – without a single human life being lost.
Sadly, I am just a human editor, and my only serum is the stories we write. So, for those suffering from humour deficiency, I strongly recommend you read our inimitable Mr Styles’ hilarious satire on the competition between Fikile Mbalula and Juju to create a spectacle on cranes.
On a more serious note, our front-page story by Rebecca Davis helps us understand the multitude of circumstances that led to the New Zealand trial of a South African woman dubbed “killer mum” because she tragically murdered her three daughters. It’s a must-read analysis that delves into the alienation and isolation of migrating to another country, as well as postpartum depression, blame, judgement and sexist stereotypes of parenting.
Please write to me at [email protected] about whatever is on your mind, and I will share it on our letters page.
Yours in defence of ever more empathy and understanding,
Heather
This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R29.
I’ve cancelled my membership, as a minority I can not support race based journalism supporting politicians against a minority.
I had the delightful pleasure of diving into your piece, and I must say, it’s quite the cerebral workout trying to justify the art of humor that Poplak gifted us with. How wonderfully illuminating it was to learn that my funny bone has been on a vacation! But wait, it’s not just mine; apparently, the humorless epidemic is spreading far and wide across your “thinking readers”.
Ah, the age-old strategy of blaming the audience for not understanding the joke! You see, it reminds me of that other saying, “How do you know if someone missed the point? Don’t worry, they’ll write an article about it.” Your valiant defense of Poplak’s tweet is commendable, albeit reminiscent of the laager mentality that seems to be brewing at the Daily Maverick HQ. But don’t fret! We, the plebeian masses, are purportedly busy hurling pap snoek and launching the seductive allure of biltong in your general direction rather than mounting a full-scale comedic critique.
However, if you do have a moment of respite between defending indefensible tweets and educating the masses on humor, I highly recommend perusing the comments on Poplak’s article. Especially Dennis Bailey’s articulate gem. It might just provide the kind of enlightenment that, unfortunately, even an MBA can’t bestow.
Take that! Well said.
I absolutely love Richard Poplak’s writing style and humour but question the wisdom of injecting that particular tweet into the boil of warring 1-minute hate sessions that is Twitter. The format of X-witter is designed for decontextualised outrage and, given how vulnerable many people feel, the reactions were as unsurprising as a windy day in Glencairn.
I don’t think blaming the audience for a sense of humour loss is a smart move here. Doubling down on trying to defend what Robertson concedes is ‘rabble rousing bullshit’ seems at odds with the widespread abhorrence that greeted Poplak’s cannibalistic tweet. It’s a low point for the DM no doubt. This rambling defence fails to mention anything about Boer/farmer murders, at last count already 7 just this week, and then tries to reassure us that, well, Prof Jansen says it’s all just an over reaction. What a joke! To be clear, and this IS the point. There does not need to be an actual genocide loading. There does not need to be even a threat of of one loading. All that is needed is a vague appreciation that where SA is in 2023, with its ever polarised social landscape and with more and more race grifters under every rock, with farm murders being far from some minor inconvenience that can be pathetically explained away as crime, this ‘kill the Boer, kill the farmer’ utterance should not be used, in public, and nor should it be defended or satirically joked about. At all. We can utterly condemn Poplak’s crassness without having to believe or prove that genocide is on its way. This is not hard to understand.
Why don’t you jam your revolting sense of humor down the throat of those who have been murdered under your cynical protection of the indefensible.
Well said (and written), Heather! Responding to the brouhaha that followed his rendition of the chant at Chris Hani’s funeral, the late Peter Mokaba shared valuable insights into its significance at the time. Anyone interested can find what he said by Googling ‘Peter Mokaba chanting South African struggle songs, YouTube’.
I support all the comments on this thread, and would like to add my own: I know people who have been tortured and murdered. Anyone who has seen the injuries inflicted on usually elderly or infirm farm owners would never even dream of being flip about them. Although, knowing the editorial leanings of DM, maybe you would.
It is very fashionable for woke publications like yours to poke fun at Afrikaans farmers, they are easy targets. Ridiculing their distress and fears makes you look just so progressive and trendy, in your own minds.
Maybe this is the wake-up call you need to look beyond your circle of leftie luvvies and take a look at the excellent work that is being done by farmers together with their communities to build the nation.
I will listen on the radio……
Singing “kill the farmer, kill the boer” is no different to shouting fire in a crowded theatre, or calling for peaceful negotiations in Ukraine while staying silent about Russian aggression against a sovereign state.
Hopefully MBA students are taught to read the room and understand context.
The problem with Pooplak’s ( no it’s not a spelling error ) quip is that it was in the most disgusting taste, Malema and his stooges singing “Kill the Boer” highlights a level of hypocrisy that you journalists are too cowardly to address. Can you imagine the drama if white South Africans had to sing “Kill the …” ( insert your own pejorative because in our histrionic society I am not even allowed to use a pejorative to demonstrate a point ) ? If whites did, Malema would be baying for blood as would every black in South Africa. This shows the level of hypocrisy prevalent in our society, it’s ok for black people to do it, but it’s not ok for whites. The Daily Maverick and all it’s vaunted journalists are too craven to even try to deal with such double standards, you’d rather attempt to justify really sick humour by Pooplak that plays straight into the hands of a racist fascist pig like Malema.
Am I missing something here ?
Did your reading of history ( strongly recommended ) or parents not tell you not to make clever jokes àbout genocide and murder ?
No amount of schmoozing in the explanation article by Poplak – or support by ” buddies” can explain the deeply sociopathic tweet.
Both too clever – and possibly not experienced proper violence.
At the expense of appearing to be didactic, perhaps Heather and Richard (latter-day commentators on what should constitute a South African psychopathic sense of humor) should :
1 . Cosy up with a glass of good ( whichever they feel appropriate ) genocide ( sic) wine and watch ” The Pianist “- and weep into your chosen cultivar if you wish.
2 . Read ” KL” – award winning amazingly researched work on the subject.
I would have thought an unqualified apology to some scared ( or fleeing) South Africans ( and pursue your unusual sense of humor) would be more expedient.
Something the more ‘sensitive’ Opinionistas may wish to factor into their cogitations is that, although this is a ‘free to read’ publication, ultimately they are PAID for their opinions. We, the subscribers, however, PAY for the privilege to express our opinions in the comment section. If suffering correction upsets you, you clearly have an ego problem. Stop pissing INTO the tent. Most of us, being poor, have only our dreams. We have spread our dreams beneath your feet. Tread softly, for you tread on our dreams.
No, Heather. Tread carefully here. I support you from abroad. I don’t have to and I will now watch carefully. Don’t intellectualise Malema. You are grossly underestimating this man and your article is in poor taste. You owe the readers and DM supporters an apology. Swak.
I do not agree that the fact that genocide has not yet happened, indicates that it will not happen. Malema has repeatedly said that he will not call for the killing of whites – yet. I think there will come a time when he will do so without any restraint. It serves no purpose quoting Jansen. His lack of empathy with white Afrikaans speakers is well established. It ill behoves him to speak of racial accommodation. (We have not forgotten the DJ coffee incident at the Protea Boekwinkel in Stellenbosch). I played the clip to people in Europe who are all horrified, as am I. I take the song seriously, I take the fact that it was sung before and by that large audience seriously and I take the failure of this African government to say anything about it seriously. That song, and articles such as this, convince me that there is no place any more for me in South Africa. The flippant tone of this article has done nothing to comfort me. You are mistaken to take us all for fools Heather.
And by the way, where is the humour in calling for the extermination of people based on their race? I felt terror. Further, I note no compassion from you for the people who experience the same terror. What do you imagine farmers feel, who have been terrorised and tortured or live in fear thereof, when they hear this song? Or are empathy and compassion not meant for us? As one of your kind (white, monolingual) once said to me in Cape Town, ‘what a pity the English did not finish your ancestors off in concentration camps.’