An enormous controversy has predictably arisen following Breyten Breytenbach's letter to Nelson Mandela published in the US Harper's Magazine. The letter in question is a rambling, incoherent piece of writing, proving once and for all that Breytenbach has finally lost the plot.
It rambles from a hagiography and ode to Breyten's demi-god, Mandela, interspersed with bitter complaints about crime, but then in almost the same breath expresses sympathy for the perpetrators of violent crime, such as the poor, "thin like praying mantises" (sic) savages of between 9 and 15 years old who stoned to death a girl aged 11, ostensibly because she was HIV+. One wonders why Breytenbach doesn't have the same sympathy for the Skierlik shooter, Johan Nel?
Breytenbach clearly views Mandela as a demi-god, a kind of elderly holy man, who can do no wrong and who, according to Breytenbach, almost single-handedly halted a possible revolution. The former is of course complete hogwash; the monumentally incompetent Mkhonto we Sizwe, the ANC's so-called military wing (primary targets: defenseless civilians) couldn't defeat a girls' soccer team, let alone liberate one square inch of South African territory when faced with the then mightiest army on the continent.
Breytenbach idolizes Mandela as a victim of circumstances and of nefarious businessmen who are exploiting his name, as well as corrupt, criminal politicians who, according to Breytenbach, are destroying Mandela's legacy.
What seems to be totally lost on the seemingly increasingly befuddled Breytenbach is that Mandela, far from being a Gandhi-like figure who eschewed violence, was in fact a violent revolutionary who planned a Communist-inspired revolution in South Africa. This is in fact why he was jailed on Robben Island. Far from being Buddha, Mandela continued preaching violence even after his release from prison. Read here how Mandela and Mbeki seemed to approve of the chant “Kill the Boer” at a funeral, and view this video to see and hear Mandela chanting violent anti-white hate songs.
