'Human rights promoter' in the Middle East is confused

Sozarn Barday, the self-appointed human rights promoter in the Middle East, confused herself by comparing her anti-Israeli view of events there with a very good start to the new, fledgling South Africa that was led by Mandela.

(Star, 17 July 2025) It was unfortunate that the new government acted too quickly to replace battle-hardened government employees with cadres and others with little or no experience. It was also tragic that poor decisions were taken in education.

Outcomes-based theory had already been thrown out in New Zealand, and to do away with technical colleges was simply tragic. But Sozarn states that: “The promised influx of international capital never materialised.

''Instead, inequality soared”. How the two are directly linked, only she knows. The truth is that from 1994 to 2001, foreign direct investment totalled USD16.5 billion, and in the following nine years it rose to USD37.9 billion. (Source: Macrotrends)

South Africa’s democracy was not born in chains. The only real chain has been the ANC, its socialist policies and its inbred corruption.

Chris Richards

Craighall