Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu lambasted the government at a Cape Town
publishing event, saying that democracy in the country had turned into a
nightmare, the Beeld reported on Tuesday.
He was speaking on
Monday night at the launch of struggle veteran Michael Lapsley's book "Redeeming
the Past", which was attended by many high ranking government officials, among
them the Deputy Minister of International Relations and Co-operation and ANC
Western Cape leader, Marius Fransman.
According to the newspaper, Tutu
reportedly screamed at the government, and asked: "What the devil are you
doing?"
The Archbishop became very emotional, and said he wished he could
go to his grave knowing that the country was a good and peaceful
one.
"But I ask myself, why were we in the struggle? The highest price
was paid for freedom, but are we treating it as something precious?"
He
said it was unacceptable that 18 years into democracy, school children had no
textbooks, and that there was no accountability for these
situations.
"It's difficult to believe that people are pocketing so much
money, and have so much privilege while the masses suffer in shacks," he
said.
He also criticised those who enriched themselves because the
ministerial handbook allowed it.
"It's legal, but is it moral?" he
reportedly asked.
"Please, please, please, come to your senses. Marikana
felt like a nightmare, but this is what our 2012 democracy has become," he said.
http://news.iafrica.com/sa/814714.html
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