Skip to content
  • Home Home Home, current page.
  • Moments Moments Moments, current page.

Saved searches

  • Remove
  • In this conversation
    Verified accountProtected Tweets @
Suggested users
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @
  • Language: English
    • Bahasa Indonesia
    • Bahasa Melayu
    • Català
    • Čeština
    • Dansk
    • Deutsch
    • English UK
    • Español
    • Filipino
    • Français
    • Hrvatski
    • Italiano
    • Magyar
    • Nederlands
    • Norsk
    • Polski
    • Português
    • Română
    • Slovenčina
    • Suomi
    • Svenska
    • Tiếng Việt
    • Türkçe
    • Ελληνικά
    • Български език
    • Русский
    • Српски
    • Українська мова
    • עִבְרִית
    • العربية
    • فارسی
    • मराठी
    • हिन्दी
    • বাংলা
    • ગુજરાતી
    • தமிழ்
    • ಕನ್ನಡ
    • ภาษาไทย
    • 한국어
    • 日本語
    • 简体中文
    • 繁體中文
  • Have an account? Log in
    Have an account?
    · Forgot password?

    New to Twitter?
    Sign up
abdutoit's profile
Andries du Toit 🇿🇦 💛
Andries du Toit 🇿🇦 💛
Andries du Toit  🇿🇦  💛
@abdutoit

Tweets

Andries du Toit  🇿🇦  💛

@abdutoit

Researcher, Writer, Curmudgeon. White/male privileged, low dunce-tolerance. Works at http://plaas.org.za  at UWC. This precious planet. Can use Traktor, prefers Live.

Cape Town
andriesdutoit.org
Joined February 2010

Tweets

  • © 2021 Twitter
  • About
  • Help Center
  • Terms
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies
  • Ads info
Dismiss
Previous
Next

Go to a person's profile

Saved searches

  • Remove
  • In this conversation
    Verified accountProtected Tweets @
Suggested users
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @

Promote this Tweet

Block

  • Tweet with a location

    You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more

    Your lists

    Create a new list


    Under 100 characters, optional

    Privacy

    Copy link to Tweet

    Embed this Tweet

    Embed this Video

    Add this Tweet to your website by copying the code below. Learn more

    Add this video to your website by copying the code below. Learn more

    Hmm, there was a problem reaching the server.

    By embedding Twitter content in your website or app, you are agreeing to the Twitter Developer Agreement and Developer Policy.

    Preview

    Why you're seeing this ad

    Log in to Twitter

    · Forgot password?
    Don't have an account? Sign up »

    Sign up for Twitter

    Not on Twitter? Sign up, tune into the things you care about, and get updates as they happen.

    Sign up
    Have an account? Log in »

    Two-way (sending and receiving) short codes:

    Country Code For customers of
    United States 40404 (any)
    Canada 21212 (any)
    United Kingdom 86444 Vodafone, Orange, 3, O2
    Brazil 40404 Nextel, TIM
    Haiti 40404 Digicel, Voila
    Ireland 51210 Vodafone, O2
    India 53000 Bharti Airtel, Videocon, Reliance
    Indonesia 89887 AXIS, 3, Telkomsel, Indosat, XL Axiata
    Italy 4880804 Wind
    3424486444 Vodafone
    » See SMS short codes for other countries

    Confirmation

     

    Welcome home!

    This timeline is where you’ll spend most of your time, getting instant updates about what matters to you.

    Tweets not working for you?

    Hover over the profile pic and click the Following button to unfollow any account.

    Say a lot with a little

    When you see a Tweet you love, tap the heart — it lets the person who wrote it know you shared the love.

    Spread the word

    The fastest way to share someone else’s Tweet with your followers is with a Retweet. Tap the icon to send it instantly.

    Join the conversation

    Add your thoughts about any Tweet with a Reply. Find a topic you’re passionate about, and jump right in.

    Learn the latest

    Get instant insight into what people are talking about now.

    Get more of what you love

    Follow more accounts to get instant updates about topics you care about.

    Find what's happening

    See the latest conversations about any topic instantly.

    Never miss a Moment

    Catch up instantly on the best stories happening as they unfold.

    Andries du Toit  🇿🇦  💛‏ @abdutoit 27 Jun 2018

    Thread. Some thoughts from a white South African, directed at friends in the USA. I have been thinking about the Kennedy resignation, and what it looks like from here. I know that historical analogies are dangerous, but here goes.

    4:52 PM - 27 Jun 2018
    • 8,965 Retweets
    • 12,516 Likes
    • SuchnessReigns a jerome hill Jesus drank. Jill B. #WearAMask 😷💉 #vaxxed #EndTheFilibuster miguel Nicole Merullo ThisParticular Random Jason Humphries 3xBlue
    328 replies 8,965 retweets 12,516 likes
      1. New conversation
      2. Andries du Toit  🇿🇦  💛‏ @abdutoit 27 Jun 2018

        I grew up in Apartheid days. My family were what these days would be called dissident Afrikaners: opposed to the government. We were white, and therefore privileged, and protected by that, but also to some extent outcast from our community, living each day in a contested reality

        10 replies 298 retweets 1,710 likes
        Show this thread
      3. Andries du Toit  🇿🇦  💛‏ @abdutoit 27 Jun 2018

        I often think back on what those times felt like: to hear of my parents' colleagues or friends detained or banned, or even murdered. To know that what was happening was evil, even while the surface of everyday life appeared normal, civil, suburban.

        3 replies 333 retweets 1,829 likes
        Show this thread
      4. Andries du Toit  🇿🇦  💛‏ @abdutoit 27 Jun 2018

        Above all, I remember what it felt like to know we were at odds with the state: its police, its soldiers, its spies, its laws; and to know that it could use that might against us.

        1 reply 254 retweets 1,697 likes
        Show this thread
      5. Andries du Toit  🇿🇦  💛‏ @abdutoit 27 Jun 2018

        In my case it was quite personal. I was by law conscripted to the SADF. Those who refused to fight and kill for Apartheid were threatened with six years of jail. I was one of those who refused.

        3 replies 248 retweets 1,674 likes
        Show this thread
      6. Andries du Toit  🇿🇦  💛‏ @abdutoit 27 Jun 2018

        I did not go to jail - long story - but I remember just how scary it was to face the potential of the state's reprisals. But you know what was even scarier? That all along, most of white society was trying to pretend it was not happening.

        5 replies 412 retweets 2,573 likes
        Show this thread
      7. Andries du Toit  🇿🇦  💛‏ @abdutoit 27 Jun 2018

        You'd go through road blocks, or find riot cops on the street, and on the radio, Bobby McFerrin would be singing ' Don't Worry Be Happy'. That song was number one on the South African charts for the longest time.

        8 replies 292 retweets 1,792 likes
        Show this thread
      8. Andries du Toit  🇿🇦  💛‏ @abdutoit 27 Jun 2018

        So, Trump. As I said, historical analogies are dangerous. But what I keep thinking about was the 1948 election, the one in which the National Party first got elected. Seventy years ago. 26 May. That was the turning point for South Africa.

        6 replies 403 retweets 1,821 likes
        Show this thread
      9. Andries du Toit  🇿🇦  💛‏ @abdutoit 27 Jun 2018

        Thing is, if you go back and read the papers at the time, what is so shockingly clear is that no-one realised what was in the process of happening. They all thought it would blow over soon.

        8 replies 410 retweets 2,147 likes
        Show this thread
      10. Andries du Toit  🇿🇦  💛‏ @abdutoit 27 Jun 2018

        You see, the National Party never won the popular vote. They had barely 37%. They only got in because of the electoral system. Rural votes were more heavily represented in Parliament. They barely squeaked in. It was never meant to happen. It was a glitch.

        14 replies 616 retweets 2,836 likes
        Show this thread
      11. Andries du Toit  🇿🇦  💛‏ @abdutoit 27 Jun 2018

        And Apartheid? Read the newspapers of the time. Very few in the English press took it seriously. It was a word and a couple of incendiary and racist slogans. Even the National Party itself did not have any detailed policies. It was clearly impractical, doomed.

        4 replies 450 retweets 2,025 likes
        Show this thread
      12. Andries du Toit  🇿🇦  💛‏ @abdutoit 27 Jun 2018

        In 1953, the NP achieved a solid majority. Still, people did not think they would last. In those days, coloured people in the Cape still had the vote. The NP passed an act taking them off the voter's roll. The Appelate Division struck it down as unconstitutional.

        6 replies 455 retweets 1,851 likes
        Show this thread
      13. Andries du Toit  🇿🇦  💛‏ @abdutoit 27 Jun 2018

        So what the NP then did was to pack the Senate, to ensure a two-thirds majority, and they changed the Constitution. That was 1955. That was the first time that it really became clear that big trouble was coming. Seven years after they got in. It took 40 years to get them out.

        14 replies 907 retweets 3,079 likes
        Show this thread
      14. Andries du Toit  🇿🇦  💛‏ @abdutoit 27 Jun 2018

        When I was doing my history degree, reading the mainstream press from the 1940s and 1950s, it seemed to me I was seeing people sleepwalking into a battlefield. Floating down the stream of history, not seeing what was right in front of their eyes.

        9 replies 568 retweets 2,719 likes
        Show this thread
      15. Andries du Toit  🇿🇦  💛‏ @abdutoit 27 Jun 2018

        It's hard to look at Trump's America, and the GOP's deliberate obstruction and exploitation of the SCOTUS nominations, and the deliberate galvanisation of all the most racist and violent segments of American society, and not to fear that you all are going down a similar road.

        28 replies 1,114 retweets 4,319 likes
        Show this thread
      16. Andries du Toit  🇿🇦  💛‏ @abdutoit 27 Jun 2018

        What that means in practice for your choices, I don't know. The one thing I am sure of is that it is a big mistake to wish for normalcy to return. It won't. It hasn't here. 25 years after freedom came, it looks as if our biggest changes still lie ahead. /ends

        121 replies 807 retweets 4,788 likes
        Show this thread
      17. End of conversation

    Loading seems to be taking a while.

    Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.

      Promoted Tweet

      false

      • © 2021 Twitter
      • About
      • Help Center
      • Terms
      • Privacy policy
      • Cookies
      • Ads info