It is a remarkable historical phenomenon that Russian President Vladimir Putin chose to copy Hendrik Verwoerd’s apartheid policy by creating four separate, “independent” ethnic Russian homelands — essentially Bantustans — in eastern Ukraine.
Bearing in mind that the Soviet Union was once a fierce opponent of SA’s apartheid, this volte-face is clearly a policy of desperation given the miserable failure of the intended Ukraine blitzkrieg and Putin running out of options to survive. However, if it is true that history repeats itself, this Russian homeland policy is as doomed as apartheid was.
Adding to the charade, the governing party has implicitly endorsed and recognised the sovereign independence of these new “republics”, a confirmation of its “hands off Putin” policy. However, such a policy is really of little or no consequence given the fact that where it really matters nobody is taking our country seriously any longer.
Gerrit Olivier
Strand
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