The session at the recent Cape Town Book Fair featuring Christi van der Westhuizen’s White Power and the Rise and Fall of the National Party provided a riveting hour of political discussion, as van der Westhuizen and co-panellists Jody Kollapen (Human Rights Commission) and journalist Elna Boesak considered whether South Africa had crossed any racial Rubicons – or whether the country remained mired in old paradigms.
The BOOK SA team liveblogged the event – and Zebra Press recorded it. We’re pleased to say that the audio file has just been published. If you weren’t able to get into the packed room to listen to the session, click here to play the White Power Cape Town Book Fair podcast.
(Note: the file is in the WAV format and should stream directly on your computer. The first voice you hear is Elna Boesak’s.)
At one point during the session, van der Westhuizen memorably said, “When there is an explosion like the Reitz hostel incident we ask, ‘How is this possible?’ I say that the context has produced these white guys who were 6-year-olds in ’94. White racism is alive and well and we’re living with it. White people need to look this in the eye and take responsibility. I don’t think we can grapple with what’s happening today if we don’t understand our past.”
Don’t miss this trenchant, galvinizing discussion in its entirety:
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