READER LETTER | Black men treated as redundant relics

As Human Rights Month nears its end, we must confront the uncomfortable truth about black men’s role in building the “new SA”. This new state was built on the deliberate marginalisation of the black man. While we celebrate gender equality and “modern” human rights, we ignore that African men bore the primary physical and systemic brunt of the colonial and apartheid machines.

Today, the state’s brand of empowerment often benefits a white female demographic already buffered by generational wealth. Meanwhile, the black man, the historical leader of household, kinship and land, is treated as a redundant relic. ​Historically, the robust social order of African men was evidenced by their custodianship over livestock and community.

​The biblical warning in Exodus 1:22 remains a chilling parallel: the first step of any systemic oppression is the targeting of the males to ensure a compliant population. Until the question of land and economic agency is answered, our “rights” are merely an empty performance. — Khotso KD Moleko