Letter: Attack on IRR gratuitous - BusinessLIVE

Michael Beaumont has grabbed the bull firmly by the udder in attacking the Institute of Race Relations (IRR) because of a piece written by Nicholas Woode-Smith (“Woode-Smith’s opinion on SA coalitions should be written in crayon”, March 3).

While Woode-Smith is a council member of the IRR, his opinions are not necessarily those of the organisation, as he himself has indicated (“Michael Beaumont is clutching at straws”, March 7). Woode-Smith’s piece was also written in his personal capacity.

Council members, and indeed IRR staff members, do not need to agree on all points of policy, other than a broad commitment to liberalism and the tenets that come with that, such as nonracialism, the free market and the rule of law.

Opinions vary on many issues on the IRR council, and among staff members. For example, atheists rub shoulders with devout Christians, with these differences in belief not hampering a broad commitment to SA liberalism.

The IRR has no official position on whether the DA should go into a coalition with the ANC — that is for the two parties to decide, depending on what the political landscape looks like after the next election. But given ANC misgovernance over the last decade any party would have to think carefully before acting as an electoral lifeboat for the ANC.

The IRR also has no position on ActionSA contesting elections countrywide. However, democracy is about contestation and ActionSA has shown that it can siphon votes away from the ANC where the DA has failed to do so. Anyone in favour of a post-ANC government should welcome ActionSA’s successes in doing so thus far.

Furthermore, the IRR has for some time now identified ActionSA as a key member of any potential post-ANC reform-minded coalition. Beaumont has been in politics for some time, and should know that the nature of the job includes being criticised, often unfairly, and that criticism can be forthcoming without it being directed by nefarious actors, pulling strings like puppet masters.

It may surprise Beaumont to know that the IRR and ActionSA share similar goals — the creation of a prosperous, nonracial, and democratic SA that has overcome the legacy of the past.

Marius Roodt
Institute of Race Relations

https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/letters/2023-03-08-letter-attack-on-irr-gratuitous/