Dear Mandela

[sphinxart]

I'm also a white South African. I've been doing charity work for just over 15 years, and I can tell you the government has done nothing. In some cases they have in fact done more harm than good. Sometimes I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle!

[expatleanie]

At first the new government blamed apartheid - I ask for how long can they really when the new government has been in power for 16 years? It seems that the government wants to fight this problem using old tactics. You can't fight a new problem using  old tactics. It seems the people in power have forgotten what their initial cause was and they too have become big headed.Not to mention wasting tax payers money on changing town names ,places unecessarily -no one really cares about that.

[ashken79]

ANC was always undemocratic and cruel!..look up the "Quatro"jails they ran in angola!

[88motho]

very sad indeed.

[MicheleCitoni]

And I don't catch, at min. 2:48-2:50, "We feel like (...?...) in another world". Could anyone help me?

[MicheleCitoni]

Please, what does the last man say at the end? "It's not a matter of f...."'

[PassionRiverFilms]

nice video!

[tragicSA2010]

Tragically the current South African government continues to commit the exact same atrocities that it fought so hard against.

ANC stands for Apartheids New Custodian

[Jonafets]

I'm a white South African and I do not want the poor to suffer. I pay my tax and I want the government to use it to help the poor. Stop the corruption and use my money to build my black friends in the townships houses, help their children to afford the same schools as mine. They take 42% of my salary, it should be enough, if someone can stop the corruption in the current government.

[Gnubnub]

Zimbabwefication is very thirsty work, 42% will not cut it in the end, in fact crossing 23 zeros of the currency may not even cut it. You may well see for yourself, but I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

[swdcek]

@Jonafets

42% is alot of money taken out to pay taxes to ANC.

[AfroSunGoddess]

@Jonafets Status qua in Africa as a whole does not empower the powerless. There is an elite group of people that struggle to hold on to power and oppress everyone else. I am a black Zimbabwean, and many times white Zimbabweans believe that us blacks have gained from the situation in Zimbabwe. But of course we have not at all, so really its not about race anymore its about this elite continue to try and gain power. 42% thats almost too much ... probably buying people cars

[Maanslang]

New apartheid is blacks discriminating against whites, that's the real truth.

[brightlights456X]

To Maanslang,

So! The whites, Indians and coloured deserve anything that comes to them.

15 years ago they would have spat in the face of a black person, but now they want help.....HA! fuck em'

[Fealot]

why do you whites have to contaminate genuine struggle with your whinging?

You are lucky that you will never really understand REAL racism...

One settler, One bullet... yesterday, today and tomorrow.

[s2586201]

Xenohobia will not solve anything.

[Gnubnub]

What struggle?

You guys progressed thousands of years in a few hundred years. you should be proud of that.

Was there a double story building before the white man? A Boat? an alphabet? a thing you could just drag behind an animal even if it didn't have wheels? come on how blunt does one have to get just to make you guys see.

So wheres the struggle? the struggle you talk of is with YOUR past and its time to be proud now. You have advanced now go further.

Struggle my foot!

[Fealot]

I wish... but sooner or later we'll give you a real reason to complain.

[lilcoco77007]

I will share this vid!

We all should know about this!

[jazminemandela]

why can't people on earth be united? :( Its just sad.

[Fealot]

because white people from Europe THINK they are moral humanist who "know" what civilised human conduct "should" be like.

They go around colonising places, oppressing the indigenous people and propping up repressive dictators.

One Settler, One Bullet.

[redjack27]

This film gives a good feel for the movement. I was lucky enough to be able to visit Abahlali in late 2007. Clearly one of the most committed and important movements around. I've never encountered anything quite like that very gentle but very militant strength. Deeply inspiring in fact. Qina!

[mexiheeb]

See you on Pangea Day May 10th :)

[chrysos123]

The sooner you realize the white man is not your biggest problem the sooner we can move to a more progressive society, but you choose to believe the lie that you are somehow free. Statistics show that for every skilled person that leaves SA, eight people loose their jobs. I believe in your cause for a better life but to black south africans I am a settler and a white devil. I hope all SAfricans realise soon whom their enemies and their friends are. Fight the good fight anyway!

[chrysos123]

There is a law that states, You get teh government you vote for. I am deeply saddenned for these people and their plight. As a South African I also know that the ANC will NEVER let the masses be educated and have a high standard of living. You are being oppressed by your own GODS wake up and smell the reality of your democracy. the ANC find money to go overseas and eat the best food while our people are suffering.

[ladylittles]

So what do you offer? What will you do personally?

[chrysos123]

Whatever I offer will never be enough. It is quite obvious that the American instilled ANC government is the weakest link. The rest of the people in South africa Are slowly moving onwards towards a better society. Dear Mandela I DID NOT KNOW WHEN I VOTED IN 1994 THAT YOUR GOODWILL WILL VANISH WITH THE NEXT PESIDENT.

PlEASE FEEL FREE TO NOT COMMENT IF YOU ARE AMERICAN AS YOU HAVE YOUR OWN PROBLEMS TO DEAL WITH.Thanks anyway for the HELP you have given us. What you sow you shall reap.

[ladylittles]

We suffer the same thing as S. Africans, the rest of Africa, and descendents of Africans here in the US such as myself. In America, apartheid has a different name but it is the same system. I'm not going to offer a solution because mine is too monumental a task to accomplish. So, until someone gets a clue and we all come together. Like you, I sewed much and reaped nothing. I am finished with this.

[Zimbachild]

Doesnt anyone wonder why the story of Africa never changes? It feels like Ground hog day for sure when I watch videos like this and read peoples comments? When will we learn that words like Democracy and governancy are too high up Maslows Hierachy of needs for us?? The first and most important step is to Attain the means of production!! Where is the government supposed to magically come up with the money to build people houses, sort out HIV, inform and empower people? Get your wealth back

[tofunotes]

Sorry - that is "hear" not "here".

[tofunotes]

I arrived here via a link on the Abahlali blog. I'll now share this on my own blog, too. Very well done. The voices we here are authentic and moving - and very human. Please publish details when the film is available to purchase on DVD. - Damian

[10arosie]

Great documentry we need to help these people

[nothingbutdabest22]

nope. black americans suffered too.after slavery ended we had nothing but the clothes on our back. we grew our own food,build our own houses by chopping down trees to make log cabins,we had to make our soap. nobody helped us. she is sitting there surrounded by trees complaining she has nothing. she could have been made her a house out of all that wood. stop depending on the government to help you.

[redjack27]

you are missing the point, spectacularly. people did build their own houses but the government came and broke them down!

[awulex]

You don`t know anything about South-Africans..they are better off than African-Americans..believe me! they don`t live in a welfare..they don`t base their life on drug or jail cells..they are hard-working men and women with a very limited resources ...they don`t have the opportunity of a food stamp..they strive for a successful future with a very limited resources...Should they have the same opportunity the African-American is wasting ,they will do better than you guys.believe me!