So Julius Malema is now as (in)famous as his immediate predecessor Fikile Mbalula? Or maybe even more so, perhaps as notorious as Peter Mokaba, the one before Malusi Gigaba? Malema last week said he and his followers are prepared to die for Jacob Zuma and the revolution, that in fact they would all take up arms and defend these two entities if necessary. I believe the ANC Youth League wholeheartedly, I really do. There is small doubt in my small mind that Malema is a committed patriot of the soil who will do anything to defend two of his most prized institutions; that of the ANC President and our country’s democracy. Many more young lions are in the same boat. They feel really strongly about what they see as continued harassment of their senior most leader by the National Prosecuting Authority.
What has a lot of observers in a slight knot are the words to kill. They say this is a threat to democracy, that this statement intimidates people, that in fact these words are inflammatory and tantamount to inciting violence. He of course says he will not apologise, despite calls to do so by the likes of bishop Tutu and others. Now even COSATU leader Zweli Vavi has reiterated these exact same words.
Is this really a call to arms? Should we be scuttling for the hills with our tinned fish and bottled water? I personally don’t think so. Yes we should be quite concerned that these adults and leaders are uttering these words at public gatherings. Words such as these could seriously be viewed as inciting violence, whereupon such violence should it take place, these leaders would simply deny they ever commanded anyone to kill. When Peter Mokaba said “kill the farmer kill the boer” he was not joking; it was a slogan thousands of ANC, PAC, APLA, MK and other struggle leaders chanted over years and years. People really did want to kill farmers because they represented the bottom end of the Afrikaner kingdom that sustained apartheid, they represented abuse of farm workers which were and still are some of the worst-off people in our society. Following farm killings, the public connected these chants to the violence, although I haven’t seen any report linking the two.
Who would Malema et al kill today? That is what probably has concerned faces dropping smiles en masse all over the country. Would it be members of the public? NPA workers? Judges? The cliché that is foreign immigrants? Or would it be anyone who opposes the election of Jacob Zuma as Mzansi’s President at the 2009 general elections? This mystery has us asking all sorts of questions about our leaders, our country, our future.
A small suggestion for Malema. How about we chant slogans like “no school, no future!” or something like “build a house, build a future!”. How about “kill HIV, kill AIDS!”? These seem more appropriate for 2008 to me than what ever else is being fought over. One thing Mbalula said, not may were listening to this, was that he and the ANCYL are always looking at ways of getting people to talk. So loud statements such as “walking around UKZN campus is like walking in Bombay” are supposed to raise issues in a manner different from the adults but still getting the nation into a discussion. The Zuma statement doesn’t appear to be of this ilk. And that is what scares so many people out there.
What has a lot of observers in a slight knot are the words to kill. They say this is a threat to democracy, that this statement intimidates people, that in fact these words are inflammatory and tantamount to inciting violence. He of course says he will not apologise, despite calls to do so by the likes of bishop Tutu and others. Now even COSATU leader Zweli Vavi has reiterated these exact same words.
Is this really a call to arms? Should we be scuttling for the hills with our tinned fish and bottled water? I personally don’t think so. Yes we should be quite concerned that these adults and leaders are uttering these words at public gatherings. Words such as these could seriously be viewed as inciting violence, whereupon such violence should it take place, these leaders would simply deny they ever commanded anyone to kill. When Peter Mokaba said “kill the farmer kill the boer” he was not joking; it was a slogan thousands of ANC, PAC, APLA, MK and other struggle leaders chanted over years and years. People really did want to kill farmers because they represented the bottom end of the Afrikaner kingdom that sustained apartheid, they represented abuse of farm workers which were and still are some of the worst-off people in our society. Following farm killings, the public connected these chants to the violence, although I haven’t seen any report linking the two.
Who would Malema et al kill today? That is what probably has concerned faces dropping smiles en masse all over the country. Would it be members of the public? NPA workers? Judges? The cliché that is foreign immigrants? Or would it be anyone who opposes the election of Jacob Zuma as Mzansi’s President at the 2009 general elections? This mystery has us asking all sorts of questions about our leaders, our country, our future.
A small suggestion for Malema. How about we chant slogans like “no school, no future!” or something like “build a house, build a future!”. How about “kill HIV, kill AIDS!”? These seem more appropriate for 2008 to me than what ever else is being fought over. One thing Mbalula said, not may were listening to this, was that he and the ANCYL are always looking at ways of getting people to talk. So loud statements such as “walking around UKZN campus is like walking in Bombay” are supposed to raise issues in a manner different from the adults but still getting the nation into a discussion. The Zuma statement doesn’t appear to be of this ilk. And that is what scares so many people out there.
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