Malan is an anti-racist
Sir: As a South African liberal, I regard both Rian Malan and Ken Owen with the highest affection and respect. However, Owen is completely wrong and Malan completely right in the matter of the South African government's approach to Robert Mugabe. Owen is talking nonsense when (Letters, 2 June) he suggests opponent's of Mbeki's 'quiet diplomacy' towards Mugabe want an invasion of Zimbabwe such as 'the Anglo-American intervention in Iraq'.
What they actually want of the South African government is two things. First, when Mugabe rigs elections, please stop praising them as free and fair — as the South African government always does. Second, when Mugabe murders, terrorises, tortures, oppresses and impoverishes millions of ordinary black Zimbabweans, please just say, 'We condemn that' — in exactly the same way as the South African government condemns the actions of Israel and condemned the US government's response to Hurricane Katrina. In short, please stop cheering and clapping Mugabe's disgusting dictatorship.
As for Owen's absurd suggestion that Malan exploits racism and is guilty of a 'self-pitying, race-based terror' of the future in South Africa, the simple remedy is to read anything that Malan has written. Malan, like Owen, is profoundly antiracist. However Malan, unlike Owen, shows his concern for black people in Zimbabwe by wanting the South African government to acknowledge their suffering under Robert Mugabe.
Andrew Kenny Cape Town, South Africa
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