OPINION | What "Do not speak ill of the dead" means to me

I was doing a story on a former apartheid minister who just died recently leaving behind a series of unanswered questions for the families of the victims of apartheid atrocities.

His tenure presided over the murdering of the Cradock Four and the bombings of Cosatu House in 1987 and Khotso House in 1989. He also approved a series of bombs in cinemas showing the film Cry Freedom in 1989. There is also the issue of the poisoning of Rev Frank Chikane in that basket. Like De Klerk and Van de Merwe who died before him, Adrian Vlok goes to his grave leaving behind many unanswered questions for the families of the victims of apartheid atrocities.

It is the death of Adrian Vlok that has made me think about what we are always told: "Do not speak ill of the dead". Does this also mean that we are not allowed to speak about the legacy that the recently deceased Pope Benedict XVI left behind?... The previous Pope was head of the church when the accusations of child abuse by priests and nuns started to make it into courts and general public and he did NOTHING. Instead, he deployed the age old tradition of moving pedophile priests to new churches so that they do not account before the law.

Australia's most powerful Roman Catholic leader, Cardinal George Pell (also died recently), did the same too by moving rapists, who masqueraded as priests, to new churches in different countries while hiding away their crimes. He knowingly and repeatedly enabled child rape, but still got away with it for decades on end. 

Do not speak ill of the dead to me does not mean that we can not speak and highlight the truth about the evil legacy that these people leave behind. We did the same last year by bringing up the story of the Mau Mau people when Queen Elizabeth died. We shall not be obligated to grieve our oppressors.

We understand that the world is certainly a better place without some people in it.

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