“Statements attributed to some of its senior executives send a worrying signal about the calibre of leadership at the helm of such important institutions.” Who would believe this was uttered by Julius Malema, of all people, about the Human Rights Commission!
The Youth League and Cosatu have no shame. They will trample the values of our constitution with their inanities and rubbish the revolution for which their predecessors sacrificed so much and which they claim they are so keen to defend. And when challenged, they shriek about the poor leadership and bad judgement of their critics.
Not just Malema and Vavi; think Judge Hlophe’s counter that the Constitutional Court’s complaint is “utter rubbish”. One might not like their judgements or even their reasoning, but you’d think a Judge President would have more respect for the highest court in the land, and an ANCYL President would have more respect for a Chapter 9 institution.
Imagine the consternation had the IFP Youth Brigade fired up a crowd with a rant about how willing they were to shoot and to kill for their leader! But not the ANCYL and Cosatu: Malema and Vavi try to outdo each other in their weird and dangerous professions of love and adoration for the presumed President in waiting. Does it change anything if Ndikho Tyawana, the man accused of stabbing ANC provincial secretary Mcebisi Skwatsha a few weeks ago, was professing his love for his party’s president? And isn’t it ironic that Kgalema Motlanthe was so keen to discipline Tyawana (rightfully so, of course), but defend Malema two weeks later for inciting murder as a means of supporting your preferred political candidate.
Where is the integrity of the ANC leadership? The ANC condones this behaviour with their defense of Malema and Vavi and their failure to defend the HRC, especially now that Malema and Vavi have thrown down the gauntlet by condemning the HRC for daring to carry out its constitutional obligations.
You will recall that the Preamble to our Constitution begins:
We, the people of South Africa,
Recognise the injustices of our past;
Honour those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land;
Respect those who have worked to build and develop our country; and
Believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity.
The Preamble goes on to say how we adopt the Constitution as the supreme law of the land so as to:
- Heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights;
- Lay the foundations for a democratic and open society in which government is based on the will of the people and every citizen is equally protected by law;
- Improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person; and
- Build a united and democratic South Africa able to take its rightful place as a sovereign state in the family of nations.
How do Malema’s and Vavi’s comments and their response to the HRC’s demands to respect the constitution in any way promote the instructions of our constitution’s preamble? These strutting peacocks soil our liberation, the history of the anti-apartheid struggle, the lives lost and sacrificed so that Malema and Vavi have their freedom, as well as the continuing struggle to build a just and prosperous society.
This issue again demonstrates the urgency of a national indaba about the challenges facing our democracy. As citizens, we need to stand up and be counted and make our voices heard. You can start by supporting Kader Asmal’s campaign in defense of the constitution. You can also write to Julius Malema at ancyl@anc.org.za and Zwelinzima Vavi at dolly@cosatu.org.za . You can write to your favourite newspapers. And you can encourage everyone you know to do the same.
March 28, 2010 at 2:09 pm
Dear Sir/Madam
I would like to strongly condemn in the strongest possible terms the “Kill a farmer kill the Boer” song. This is tantamount to insult, hate speech, disregard for human life, incitement, support for violence, conspiracy to commit and backward and simply dumb.
They, the ANC, now go against their own constitution in order to ratify this thug and madman called Julius Sello Malema. The ANC claims the song as being part of the Struggle as you know. The Struggle, man, is over by 16 years, its time to move on. Cultures must also change with the times.
As an Afrikaner I do not delve into the past when my ancestors got locked in colonial concentration camps and murdered by the British. I don’t know of any Afrikaner songs in antiquity that went “Kill be redneck kill the settler” or something to that effect. And was there mass renaming of English street and town names by the Nats, pre 94, to eradicate vestiges of the English history in this land.
So if the “Kill a farmer kill the Boer” song is part of our history then by the same token the K-word is also part of our history and then it also OK to be used and must also be respected? Am I correct here or am I barking up the proverbial tree.
Or is the ANC selective of the land’s history. Julius Malema is out of control and have a chip, weighing several tons, on his shoulder, indeed?