Maureen Isaacson writes for the Sunday Independent. She is also a member of this forum. See what you think of her "Second Take" editorial-page article, published today. It mentions us.
sindy All hail, Saint Julius Malema Maureen Isaacson, Sunday Independent, Johannesburg, 12 April 2009 In these autumn weeks, as the days grow shorter and the threats louder, I am happy to report that I have a new best friend. Every day since the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) dropped its charges, miles of Jacob Zuma's smile offer shelter and comfort from the stormy, conspiratorial weather. This is largely because the president- elect's face is splashed across the banner that the ruling party has wrapped around Luthuli House's western facade. It overlooks my Sauer Street office. If I feel lonely, I look up at the Big Man. He beams down at me. He's got my back! "Working together, we can do more," says the banner. Notwithstanding Zuma's call for a review of the Constitutional Court and his attack on its judges, he has used his week of triumph not to sow dissent but to preach Christian values. He accused the judges of behaving "as if they were almost close to God". Does his call for forgiveness include them? Hopefully. Because Zuma called for peace in a week when many did not. "It's payback time!" roared Gwede Mantashe, the ANC Secretary-General. "Arrest them!" shouted Buti Manamela, the Young Communist League leader. "They" are the enemies of Msholozi who messed with the instruments of state power to keep him out of the Union Buildings. Buti and Blade Nzimande, the SACP Secretary-General, want "the witches" rooted out. Buti's utterances make Julius Malema look like a saint. Julius is, anyway, a new man. Once he called Helen Zille racist for her determined effort to get Zuma to have his day in court - but in a press conference on Friday, Julius was the model of perfect leadership. In his new avatar as peace envoy, his promises of a new, functional country run by "an ANC that is not divided" are compelling. He heralds a brand new dawn - but will he protect us from the likes of the lone ranger who called out on the Young Communist League's (YCL's) internet discussion forum in joy this week? "Good things come to those who wait," wrote the ranger. "Nxamalala has waited for these cockroaches to finally eat Dyroach. Amandla!" Will Julius join the debate waged on this same forum about the role of the Fourth Estate, which is widely seen as parroting the values of its capitalist owners? One entry on the discussion forum posits Idi Amin as the man with the solution to the apparently vexed issue of media freedom. A message accompanying a photograph of Amin forcing white journalists to pledge to refrain from deriding him says: "I hope Jonathan Shapiro (Zapiro), the Zionist, was one of them." Julius, thought to be "a creation of the media", has had good press since he laid down the arms he once offered to take up for Zuma. He has declared that the chapter on the NPA's decision to drop Zuma's charges is closed. This week, Julius warned the feeble to prepare for the ninth of May, ".when we march through Church Street to the sound of the police band. Jacob Zuma is coming to town. If you are not ready, start practising now." The civil war towards which Thabo Mbeki was steering us has been averted, said Julius. He will "be engaging with" the bloodthirsty to stop the war-talk. He is talking service delivery, "the values of Nelson Mandela", 1994 and a cabinet free of "clowns and actors and actresses" is on offer. But the new moral landscape that is being staked out by the new rulers embraces selective hate speech; it reserves the right to label the opposition as racists. It promises constitutionalism but it wants to have jurisdiction over the judges of the land's highest court. In the months leading to the 1994 election, Zuma brought together the warring IFP and ANC factions in KwaZulu-Natal and saved the country from civil war, which had threatened to derail elections. If Zuma is going to keep at bay the real forces of darkness, this is no time for mixed messages. The Number One at Luthuli House is still beaming. I have just looked. But can he hear me? --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
<<attachment: image001.jpg>>
