[Emedgella]

Without wishing to cause offence but rather to shed light on the nature of an insult used by ANC Youth League president Julius Malema, we need to say explicitly what the term ba makula means in English.

Without wishing to cause offence but rather to shed light on the nature of an insult used by ANC Youth League president Julius Malema, we need to say explicitly what the term ba makula means in English. 



Addressing a gathering near predominantly Indian Lenasia on Wednesday, Malema was telling his audience that their children must be allowed to go to school alongside Indian children.



However, he used the extremely derogatory equivalent of “coolies”. 



This is so outrageous from so many angles it beggars belief. The struggle, which Malema missed but talks about incessantly, has a long roll call of Indians who served with distinction. 



If he had any inkling, he wouldn’t dream of using a term which African language speakers and South African Indians know full well ranks with the abhorrent K-word. 



Malema likes to be compared to former president Nelson Mandela, who was also once an ANCYL leader. 
 Well, he should note that in 2002 Mandela instructed playwright Mbongeni Ngema to apologize for the Ama- Ndiya song, which offended the Indian community. 



If Malema really felt he had to refer to Indians he could have used a less offensive noun such as amaNdiya. Ignorance is no excuse. 



This week Indians may feel especially offended because of the racist attitude expressed towards Judge Chiman Patel at the Judicial Service Commission hearings for the position of KwaZulu-Natal judge president. 



Regrettably such instances are all too common among powerful people in our supposedly non-racial democracy. That’s what you can expect when the president of an exclusively black organization, who thinks there are too many coloureds in the Cape, is appointed as government’s chief spokesman.

http://www.citizen.co.za/citizen/content/en/citizen/opinion-leaders?oid=233685&sn=Detail&pid=146826&Malema’s-Indian-insult-inexcusable