Vlok Flocks to Chicken’s, I Mean Chikane’s, Feet

Hi Ben - have a look at Ben Trovato’s satiral take on the foot-washing episode in today’s Cape Times. Here’s the link.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=2904

Adriaan Vlok aint Jesus Christ. Not by a long shot. Perhaps he should also consider spending 40 days in the desert and similar. But really he should go and talk to those whose lives he wrecked, go and speak to them openly and honestly.

Ben

I think you confuse justice and remorse/sorrow. If I have been wronged - I find it easier to get over the it if the person concerned expresses sorrow/remorse. Yet justice is not served. I admire the man for what he has done - it requires humility (in short supply globally I might add) to wash ‘your enemies’ feet yet if he can be prosecuted - let’s throw the whole rule book at him

12 years into democracy, a process of true reconciliation has finally begun The ACDP salutes both former apartheid police minister Mr Adriaan Vlok and the Director-General in the Presidency, Dr Frank Chikane, for the good example they have set, in a country that should promote reconciliation and nation-building over and above political activism and racial polarization. It is not every person that has the guts and humility to ask for forgiveness when they have done wrong. There are husbands who would rather see their marriages end in divorce than ask their wives for forgiveness when they have erred, just as there are wives who don’t mind losing their families rather than saying “I am sorry”, when they know that they are wrong. Adriaan Vlok must be commended for showing the way of reconciliation by washing Frank Chikane’s feet and asking for his forgiveness for his involvement in atrocities committed by the apartheid government. It takes a real man of courage to say “I am sorry”. We salute Frank Chikane for allowing Adriaan Vlok to wash his feet and for accepting the apology he said was genuine. He showed how those who have been wronged should respond to those who caused them pain. Those who described Mr Adriaan Vlok’s foot-washing apology to Mr Chikane as “provocative” and “insensitive” need help themselves. The pain and bitterness they may still be experiencing should not be ignored. Government must offer counseling services to people who are still suffering personal trauma because of what happened during the apartheid era, and help them to be free, and in a position to accept an apology from whoever caused them pain.