Caught Tony Leon interview on 702 yesterday. Defensive, lacking in self-awareness, sense of history and place.
That he doesn’t think it’s problematic to refer to ascendancy of a black man as an ‘experiment’ in a predominantly white ‘colour blind’ Party says a lot about Leon.1/
That he doesn’t think it’s problematic to refer to ascendancy of a black man as an ‘experiment’ in a predominantly white ‘colour blind’ Party says a lot about Leon.1/
Leon’s ‘record of non-racialism’ is as poor as that of his political leadership and judgement. He was a mediocre, shouty opposition leader who could not see beyond fear and resentment of white people who saw change as loss of status and power in the South African race matrix. 2/
After the 1992 referendum, the DP was a limited but semi decent political party. His legacy as leader of DP/DA is forever linked to poor electoral performance, dog whistling evident in the ‘fight back’ slogan which heavily borrowed from ‘swart gevaar’ mentality. 3/
Unlike earlier gen of thoughtful, considered liberals & decent human beings,Leon’s generation is brash,highly strung, white liberals who considered apartheid state as problematic as liberation movements. This brand of ‘middle’ politics yields ‘race blindness’ & zero nuance.4/
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