Both of these stances are inimical and adverse to robust intellectual engagement. Secondly, Kekana's extraordinary claim and insinuation that all white intellectuals support all white governments is historically incorrect and displays a narrow understanding of the role of intellectuals in society. It is pertinent to remind ourselves of the likes of Socrates, Plato, many other philosophers and intellectuals, artists and scientists who through the ages had been persecuted and killed for opposing ruling parties in many countries in Europe, and in pre-1994 South Africa itself. The implications of Kekana's stance are very worrying if one has had the misfortune of living under repressive regimes such as those of Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Stalin, Pol Pot, Mobutu Sese Seko, Idi Amin and Sani Abacha. With regard to the role of intellectuals in society, it is important to indicate that central to intellectual activity is critical engagement with ideas.
Intellectual work requires intellectual space and independence.
An informed description of intellectuals extends beyond those individuals whose role is to provide the dominant class with forms of moral, ideological and intellectual leadership, and hence become propagators of its ideologies. The Palestinian scholar and cultural critic Edward Said puts it succinctly when he states that intellectuals must speak truth to power. Unlike Kekana's intellectual, Said warns against succumbing to the temptation to curtail scepticism in favour of conformity in order to serve and win rewards from the government. Intellectuals should be servants of the truth and not of power. The latter would also apply if one expands the category of intellectual to include all those who are involved in the production and dissemination of knowledge, the intellectuals as professionals.