Dear Editor,
I read a letter in the SN of May 22 by David Johnson about Burnham not getting the Oliver Tambo Award because of his style of leadership (‘South Africa’s new politics is not modelled on the maximum leadership style exemplified by Burnham’). We are moving further and further away from the reason for the award ‒ contribution to the ANC war against apartheid. First the excuse was that Burnham murdered Rodney.
That does not hold water and now the excuse is Burnham’s management style. I wonder what the writer thought of Nasser and Sukarno’s management style? I wonder how the writer analyses the brutal removal of Mbeki? I wonder how the writer analyses the killing of 32 miners by South African police a few months ago, and the recent shooting of 10 miners with rubber bullets, again by police. There is silence because these incidents are reminiscent of the apartheid era. It means that we are moving further and further away from the reason for why the award is given and we are now fully in the realm of hypocrisy. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that Walter Rodney will be given the award because he is liked in Africa and not because of his contribution to the ANC war against apartheid. It means not only that the bar will be lowered, but the criteria would have suddenly changed as to who is liked and not liked.
Yours faithfully,
Kean Gibson
