City Press on Biko hypocrisy

Simphiwe Kanityi

When I think of what would Biko think today it's like thinking about Jesus. What I mean about this is that there were people who pretended to be Jesus's friends while they were hypocrites. Those were the people who said good things while in public but failed to implement action.

For me, wherever Biko is now, I think we both think the same way:
"It is better to have heart without words than having words without heart".

What I mean is what Jesus told His disciples when He said: "Some are just worshipping me with their 'huge' lips while their hearts are far away from me, and that is what people are doing these days. They just commemorate for the sake of commemoration, there is no meaning.

I also liked the article I read in City Press written on the 15 September by the columnist Khathu Mamaila which reads as follows:

... Some among us are either hypocrites or cowards or both...

One of the values of Biko’s contribution was to put the African at the centre, not periphery, of the unfolding cultural revolution.

There is a crusade, a total onslaught, on the very concept of being African. Only last week, those who had appointed themselves the guardians of the uncivilised and savage African were at it again.

They were calling for an end to the practice of virginity testing. They say the practice abuses children. What they conveniently forget to say is that the girls who participate in the reed dance and virginity testing go there of their own free will. They are not forced. In fact they are proud to participate in the event. But the practice is dismissed as alien because it is foreign to the dominant culture, which is Eurocentric. And because of that, it should be dismissed as barbaric and abandoned.The same applies to other African practices such as koma, or initiation. The general focus is on the negative – the deaths of initiates.

... So perhaps as we remember Biko and celebrate our national heritage, we should look closely at things that restore our collective Africaness. It is not enough to just say Biko was a great leader while failing to implement the small things that he tried to inculcate in us.Instead of being too ready to hero-worship Biko, we should honestly interrogate his ideas so that when we identify with his vision, our lives can align properly with his teachings. For now, the whole thing is superficial.

Great work Future Journalists keep it up!