By KEDIBONE MOLAETSI

Pan Africanist Congress of Azania said it is concern over growing divisions experienced among South Africans recently.

PAC spokesperson, Thabo Mokgatlhe said it is not only appalling, but also disheartening to witness other human beings regarding others as inferior and sub-human.

“Our founding President Robert Sobukwe, once echoed profound sentiments that we have only one race and that race is a human race, that is still the case.

“The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) emphasised the importance of nation-building in 1994. The truth is that social cohesion cannot be built on top of economic injustices that we have suffered for more than 300 years after the land was dispossessed by Jan Van Riebeck and his people,” Mokgatlhe said.

He further said they remember their election campaign slogan of “Land first, all shall follow”. Mokgatlhe added that the slogan vindicated them today for what they stood for in the early 1994 when the country was auctioned daylight.

“1994 was tragic euphoria. We were lied to, deceived and misled. The PAC was critiqued for being honest about the agrarian question which was only realised by majority after 20 years in democracy.

“We emphasised under the leadership of Clarence Makwetu that the social cohesion can only be achieved through filling the wide economic gap that we have inherited from the dark year of 1652,” he said.

Mokgatlhe said however, they are firm and consistent. He added that they are not scared to stand on minority on principle matters.

“We have been vindicated on many occasions in political events of this country. We must also state that the conflicts we see in Overall Hoerskool etc are not necessarily as a result of colour line, but between the haves and have-nots. It is between those owning means of production and those who do not.

“What is happening in the country should not be defined as racism rather as class struggle. It is a struggle between those who are owning land and those who do not own the land. It cannot be ignored that those who find themselves “owning” the land happen to be of “European” national and those who have been dispossessed land and are in majority are poor African people,” Mokgatlhe added.

He said: “It is so sad that while the country is going through so many phases, we find ourselves without a leadership. Communities are leading themselves with SAPS as the watchdogs. We have seen two cases of “European” farmers who killed two African people in Kwazulu Natal and the other one at the West Rand of Johannesburg, Tarlton.

“The Overall Hoerskool language issue is just a feature of a bigger problem. It is clear that some people of certain nation do not believe that there can be a co-existence or tolerance of each other. Certain nation believe that the other one should be treated as second-class citizens because they are not human enough in their own land.”

He said government is mum therefore creating void for communities to stand up for themselves. Mokgatlhe further said the PAC is calling for immediate land repossession programme, expropriation without compensation.

“We want to address the economic gap which perpetuates social injustices that we are subjected to today. We do not need much revolutionary antics or to wait for 2019 nevertheless we want the land repossession project to begin as soon as now so as to benefit our poor masses whom are growing impatient,” he said.

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