This morning’s Mail & Guardian headline reads NPA drops corruption charges against Zuma. Sadly, no surprises here. Eight years into the case and two weeks before the election (22 April), the corruption, fraud, money laundering and racketeering charges brought against ANC leader Jacob Zuma have been dropped. Subtlety is made redundant when one boasts the support of the masses. Corruption is the status quo. This is the final nail in the coffin of a criminal justice system that has been brutally tortured and abused for many years. The result: the next South African president is an alleged rapist/arms dealer who thinks that condoms are overrated, that showering after sex reduces the chance of contracting HIV, and that it is a good idea to motivate supporters – living in a country riddled with violence and bloodshed – with the song Lethu Mshini Wami (Bring Me My Machine Gun). It would appear that Zuma’s standard-three (grade 5) level education has done him no favours, unless brain-washing and fraud were part of the curriculum. The blood of many South Africans has surpassed boiling point as feelings of helplessness and anger overwhelm. For South Africans championing a change in leadership, these feelings are a breeding ground for apathy. I am no political fundi, just an average newspaper-reading, middle-class, South African woman determined to make a stand by exercising my right to vote with a mark on a ballot paper. Woe to the apathetic (see It’s All About Respect), who have, by inaction, are consenting to Machine-Gun man as the next president.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who has been criticised for airing his views in a telling interview published last week, admits to his concerns about the future of South Africa with Jacob Zuma as president: “In the year of [Barack] Obama, can you imagine what it is like when you are walking in New York and they ask you who will be the next president…at the present time, I can’t pretend to be looking forward to having him as my president … It was easy to be against something [during the struggle]. A far more difficult task has been left to you — making a reality of our freedom. So when our new government behaves somewhat strangely, it is very difficult to condemn because it looks like you are unpatriotic. We are at a bad place right now in our country … We imagined that our idealism, our altruism, being concerned about others more than ourselves, would be automatically carried over into the post-apartheid era and we were surprised by how easily we seemed to forget … It’s not a laughing matter — it’s people saying ‘go jump in a lake’ if you have objections. Is this why people died, is this why people went into exile, is this why people were tortured? … This is our country, our beautiful country. Please allow us old people to go to our graves smiling”. Is this plea too little too late?
it’s dire. It’s disappointing.
But what is exciting is the amount of (young) people that are mobilizing themselves to vote for change. We only need the opposition parties to be strong enough to secure the ANC from having a two-thirds majority in parliament. Our constitution will then be safe for another 4-5 years. In this next half-decade, severe campaigning and public awareness will have to be conducted for South Africa to rise up against any unjust/uneducated/uncaring leader.
It’s a difficult situation, but people need to sit up and notice and make a DECISION to be part of the solution.
Well done on another great piece of writing RANTCHICK.
ABSOLUTELY! It’s about not giving up! And I am so pleased to hear that people (young) are voting for change – it shows a change in mind-set that makes me really excited! South Africa is a beautiful country worth fighting for! We all have a responsibility to do our part.
Thanks for such an inspiring comment!