I just finished a long day at work & was fasting,so I am tired & don’t have the energy for a long twitter brouhaha with AfriForum’s supporters. I am bemused by the fact that everyone got riled up by an old tweet. I wonder what AfriForum’s leadership is up to by bringing this up.

But I will make 3 separate points.1st, to those who made disparaging comments,I don’t get intimidated by it. I am often harangued by racial essentialists in the EFF & I have learnt to live with it.But read your tweets & reflect on how similar they are to those I get from the EFF.

2nd,I believe in a cosmopolitan vision of the world which is why I oppose racial essentialists. In this moment we need to cohere as a collective human community to address our global challenges like this pandemic & this will not happen if we let the racial essentialists divide us

I am not naive: I recognize that humans have an impulse to both wander and explore (globalize)& identify & familiarise. These are not mutually exclusive agendas as populist & nativist parties tend to suggest. Instead they can be complementary elements of a human existence.

This is why I am opposed to orgns like the EFF & AfriForum. They hate each other, but they are both racial essentialists & work to fracture our world. This is dangerous in this historical moment because it prevents us from addressing our collective challenges like this pandemic.

Finally, I note that @ErnstRoets wants a debate. Now I am not naive; I know racial ideologues often want this because they can create political spectacle. The EFF does it all the time. But to be fair, I often speak about the importance of building a public sphere of deliberation.

I cannot then refuse to debate because I disagree with them. However the engagement will not be without rules. I am not interested in pol. spectacle but I am open to an intellectual deliberation on why AfriForum is racially essentialist & the dangers in its philosophy & strategy.

So @ErnstRoets, if you are interested in a real public discourse on these terms, then send me a DM & I will get our Comms team to be in touch & work out the rules & logistics.I want to repeat; I am not interested in political spectacle but I am open to a real public deliberation.

Now let me return to throwing some of you out of my account. You recall I informed you about the rules: no racism, foul language & threats. We cannot have public deliberation with uncivil engagement because it is intimidatory. We must stand firm against this.Good night & be safe!