Eugene, The Cock Up!

It was just not in the best interest of 'nation building' to release Eugene de Kock. The media frenzy about whether he should be released or not is a destruction to what we should be focusing on as a country. This man delayed progress enough and in my opinion there is no time or space for compassion towards a past that ruined us. In street language, I would say a past that f*cked us up completely.

The symbolic Truth and Reconciliation Commission sidelined many people including my own father. So, it is difficult to be objective in this story, as a journalist, a son and citizen that loves this country. We failed to put the matters to rest a long time ago. While people are busking in cold poverty, others continue to enjoy life. From apartheid days, right into what is called freedom, people continue live The Life. Despite their hands being stained with blood of many who yearned for a just South Africa. 

The real cock up is when the new dispensation failed to make the oppressor meet the oppressed halfway. Instead the oppressed, in the form of Nelson Mandela, walked all the way to the oppressed to say "We forgive you" before anyone could hear what exactly what are we forgiving. And then the TRC ended, a massive backlog and politicians with ambitions that did not include aspirations of the majority of this country. So, the day must pause and focus on whether Eugene de Kock must be released or not? 

The new government is unable to show decisive leadership because the loose ends were not tied up before trying to implement the new Constitution. If we as a country, had dealt with the past with some conviction, people like Schabir Shaick would not be subject that we have to explain and defend why they happened. If Batho Pele was in our DNA we would not be talking about Mbulelo Goniwe, Tony Yengenin, Nkandla or the arms deal today. We would have set an example with those who committed crimes against humanity before and after 1994. We have a serious backlog. That's where the Cock Up comes from. We would not have the Eugene de Kock discussion right now. 

Instead today we have a government that undermines the Public Protector and we have the opposition  that just finds fault and misses out on inspiring our people. The DA is so passionate about the SABC COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng, but they don't even watch the SABC. I asked on DA politician what his favourite show was on the public broadcaster's channel. Took her 12 minutes to answer. Anyway, the issue here is Eugene de Kock, who the opposition parties are mum and saying nothing about how wounded we are as a nation. They sit and wait for the ANC government to make mistake so they can make noise and annoy me. People remain uninspired, poor and sad. 

So, Eugene de Kock can't be getting attention he is getting now. We have a serious backlog to deal with. 

Not that you care, but this is my take on Juju!

Hahahaha! That was my reaction throughout his maiden speech in Parliament yesterday. I have always labelled him the wrong guy with the right things to say. To me, he is the guy that took advantage of ANC's ways of taking advantage of the poor. After the ruling party spat him out of his comfort and easy money, he thought of the vulnerable and poor who need to vent and blame someone for their desperate situation. 

But if Julius Malema continues this way, South Africans will be forced to have honest conversations about where we are as a country. The dinner table (for those with enough to dine) conversations are certainly going to change. He made interesting remarks about how Black people continue to go beyond meeting white people halfway. But I am puzzled by how he vindicates Nelson Mandela and praise him as martyr and yet criticise the deal reached after the famous Codesa. Nelson Mandela was the centre of all this. He received the political power on behalf of all of us without a guarantee of economic emancipation for the majority of the population. 

Any way, back to Juju, personally, I am glad he is in that Parliament to help us all have the courage to call "a thing, a thing". 

In my opinion his speech had more substance than that of Mmusi Maimane. Mmusi had the difficult task of validating himself before he delivered his party's message. A major turn off for me. Not even his good looks could help me listen to what he had to say. Maybe it's also because I don't think his party has the interest of the vulnerable at heart. Or maybe I am just not the target market for this party. I am also too sophisticated to align myself with the EFF or the ANC, but I appreciate the transition Parliament is experiencing. It might just be the answer to all our prayers. MPs will think twice before fucking up because EFF will expose them and it will not help them ahead of the 2016 local governement election. It is clear that our poverty and right to basic human rights is not enough to compel elected officials to do their job. So maybe having EFF in there will steer them into the right path, away from arrogance and selfish behaviour. Who knows? 

Jokes aside

Sometimes our diversity is sad.  But I am not going to blame it on apartheid. When I saw the EFF MPs sworn in, dressed like maids and mineworkers, it pierced my heart. It was a weird feeling. I was with people who thought it is a fashion statement. It was a joke for some on twitter. I am quite sure there are some uttering racist remarks. To those who lived in the apartheid era like FW de Klerk, it must have been difficult to digest. 

Well it did not give me the complete sense of pride I wanted to have because of Julius Malema. For me, he is the wrong man with the right message. An important message. Nevertheless a point was made. The intentions are admirable and really hope they don't lose this identity to remind struggle heroes sitting on the oppsite side of the National Assembly why they are in Parliament. Their sudden middle class view of this country should vanish before they are exposed completely by the 25 MPs of the EFF. 

I am hopeful that the EFF is not using history to manipulate us, just like we are regularly manipulated by people who say they took us out of the unjust days of apartheid. 
Some of us were raised by mothers who were maids and fathers who were gardeners. We were raised by mothers who were not allowed to use the same toilets as their employers. Part of their job was to lose their dignity for as long as they are servants in the house of the Madam and Baas. Some of our mothers carried children fathered by the Baas while the Madam was away. 

It is sad to see the ANC Youth League that Nelson Mandela once led is now occupied by a different breed. Children of stalwarts who are empty cans on social media, detached from the people who actually propel the ANC to power. Far more educated than the people who put food on their table. Ironically those people don't even have enough to eat themselves. 

They are a blessing in disguise though, because this will only make the likes of Julius Malema even more radical amd say all the things that no one will dare say against what was once the congress of the people. The detachment of the ANC from the people, males space for EFF. 

I don't want to end this note without touching on the Democratic Alliance's stunt in a bid to block President Jacob Zuma's election. Their protest against the election was two-pronged. While it showed dissatisfaction with the Zuma administration, it also undermined the Chief Justice, the IEC and all of us who read and understood the Constitution. But my believe is that, history will give an acurate label to what the DA actually represents and stands for. I am not in a good position to say at this time. 

We are divided in our diversity and Mandela's mission was not accomplished. Sadly there is no one to continue. 

Playing Devil's Advocate: Oscar Pistorius Closing arguments

This would be my closing argument if I represented Oscar. You are all welcome to take the role of My Lady: 

Why are we really here? Nobody knows what really happened between Oscar and Reeva. Those are the only people that know what led to this tragic end. But why are we here? Because Oscar Pistorius broke down every time when graphic details about that fateful night emerged? He admitted to killing her. Is it inconceivable that someone would shoot their partner by mistake. in a crime-ridden country like ours? 

Why are here? Because Oscar shot through a sunroof of a car and involved in a gun going off at a restaurant? Because there were Whatsapp messages between two lovers? Some of the testimony come from people who loathe Oscar. Samantha Taylor. She has bias. Yes, the prosecution corroborated her story. Butnshe hates Oscar. 

But why are we here? The Watermelon Shooting range incident? He said all that in jest. That video only emerged when Reeva Steenkamp was shot and killed. If Oscar was such a menace to society why didn't anybody report him to the police? So far there is no concrete evidence that would allow the judge to conclude beyond all reasonable doubt that Oscar Pistorius is a murderer. So why are we here? 

But while we are here, let's talk about the police. How they messed up the crime scene. Embarrassed us to the who,e world with allegations of some of the accused belongings being stolen. Investigator with a attempted murder charge or charges hanging over his head. No, we are okay with all this we are just baying for the blood of the man who admitted to shooting his girlfriend, mistaking her for an intruder. 

We sat there, edited and circulated pictures of Oscar's crying episodes.  To a point that we were led to believe that he was acting up and not really crying. I hated myself for being compassionate sometimes, because I was up against a huge wave of Oscar haters. But I honestly observed an apologetic, remorseful young man. Someone who's been locked up in their own world for too long. Missed out on being humane to others. Missed out on compassion and all the ingredients that make great people in our society because of his fame, money and pressure to keep succeeding. 

People who are unrelentingly vilified tend to end up cold and hard. I think it's hard for Oscar to do that. I don't think he can fake vulnerability like that just to get sympathy. 

I quickly remember a famous law series that was on TV a few years ago. The defence attorney in this series spoke about something called Schadenfreude. From the German words schaden and freude, damage and joy. It means to take spiteful, malicious delight in the misfortune of others. We also dismiss this as an ugly side of human nature. In early 2004 an American academic captured schadenfreude on a brain scan. It's apparently a physiological,medical,phenomenon. When we see others fall, it sometimes causes a chemical to be released in the dorsal striatum of the brain which actually cause us to feel pleasure. 

If you watch the news or read the papers. There you will see the undeniable delicious joy of the media and the public in the Oscar Pistorius plight. I have no doubt you want Oscar Pistorius to be punished. He is obnoxious, changed girlfriends just like that, unruly when he's drunk, he is cold and materialistic, unlikable... And it might bring you all pleasure to see him go to jail. 

Was it proven beyond reasonable doubt that he intended to kill Reeva Steenkamp.

Is the only possible route to a guilty verdict here Schadenfreude? 

Thank you my lady

Nkandla: We must just sit down

I don't want to be on the wrong side of history. I have to comment on the Nkandla scandal and the public protector's report. But we don't just comment for the sake of making a noise. But I felt that I needed to caution everyone expecting something to come out of Thuli Madonsela's damning report on the president's Nkandla homestead. Few week ago we heard from Madonsela, detailing how corrupt people run our public broadcaster. The report was dismssed and the rogue elements praised as martyrs.
So, don't give yourself ulcers and heartburn when this is just one of those moments we will look back and realise that President Jacob Zuma got away with it. Instead of defending the ANC by getting rid of him, they choose to keep him where he is. Perhaps it's ideal for their own future? The idea of not having blue lights and bodyguards probably torments ministers who continue to swim against a tide of outrage and disgust at the corruption and dishonesty.
Most of the condemnation of what is happening in our government, is loud in newspaper columns and blogs. Not in the streets. The noise on the streets is only from those hyenas trying to score ahead of the general elections in May. Everyone is looking out for themselves. The only brave people are in Bekkersdal. They stoned ANC officials because they are tired of the poverty proudly sponsored by the ANC and other political parties like the DA where they govern.
No one is on this for the people but themselves. So, until the people of this country, all of them, see the political parties, especially the ANC for what they are, we will never have a revolution. No change, no improvement.

Until then, we must just sit down!

Thanks for the RDP house, but give us our dignity back

President Jacob told reporters that he would not debate with Zille because she is not a President but a premiere. He advised Zille to get Premiers to debate with. 

President Zuma already knows the ANC will get comfortable win of the upcoming elections. He is very much aware that his party's sponsorship of poverty will deliver victory and a second term in the highest office. So, why open up yourself to criticism by debating with the opposition? 

The people exploited by the ANC will most probably not even watch the debate. The ANC's target market is those they manipulate with social grants, food parcels and a promise of a better life every five years. And of course those who benefit while corrupt leaders remain in power. Nelson Mandela convinced not only South Africans, but the whole world when he took on FW de Klerk before the 1994 elections. Even though the majority of the people were clear that apartheid was over, Mandela was not arrogant but still wanted to convince us he was the Moses leading us out of Egypt.

Now Moses is dead. We remain in the wilderness. No one to give us our dignity back. Zuma debating with Zille is an opportunity to try and give something no one has been able to do. Give us our dignity back. Restore faith in the ANC of Oliver Tambo and defend his right to lead this wonderful nation. We were given RDP houses. More people have electricity. There are no signs that prevent black people from using same pavements with whites. Even though,white people did not meet us halfway with Mandela's reconciliation, we moved from the dark days of apartheid. 

But we are now stuck in middle of the road. Our people cannot maintain what government has provided because they are disempowered. The same government that lead us out of the dark now can't keep the lights on. We are in another kind of darkness. Black people have no social or economic power. That makes the RDP house useless. We can't maintain them. So, Mr Zuma refuses to come on live television to defend the distance his party has covered and they way forward. How do we get to the promise land? People of Soshanguve, Madidi, Klipgat and Mabopane want their dignity back. They appreciate the RDP houses. But you cannot make them dependent on you just to secure votes. They want to hear Mr Zuma give them hope. Hope that he is working on a plan that mothers and fathers will have opportunities so they can have healthy families. People are desperate for a leader that speaks to them, not for them. What are you afraid of Mr Zuma? When HIV and Aids and remain socio-economic related problems, the you should know you need to speak up amd acknowledge our pain. 

Why won't you take this opportunity and give people their dignity back? This country's history does not allow Helen Zille to be the kind of person that would convincingly give us our dignity back. By virtue of her skin colour she has social power. She knows nothing about having one's dignity stripped. 

So why won't you be the defender of our dignity? Is it because she is a woman? What is it that makes you think we don't want to hear you trying to give us our dignity back? Are you so sure of victory that you are already planning for your inauguration? 

Race against time: Apartheid victims in a democracy

It’s shocking that violence of race is often direct. As someone correctly observed, we put plaster on a bullet wound in this country. We move on too quickly without dealing with how traumatized we are, and that’s why we will continue hurting each other.  In my first job as journalist, that’s back in 2004 – I came across the story of Nelson Chisale, a black farmworker who was beaten and the fed to a pride of lions by his white boss. I will not take away the fact that Simon Mathebula, a black man, was an accomplice.

In my opinion, Black on Black violence that still exists and the White on Black humiliation we see feed off each other. I think for as long as the one exist, the other one will survive. The way police of the new dispensation treat black people makes us all vulnerable to attack by racists. Police brutality reaffirms the notion that black life is cheap. That is why Kobus Muller and Charl Blom attacked Damane Gwebu for fun. Black man became easy target for drunk young white masters. And it seems to be a trend a the Free State University.

Black people have no social power like whites. We remain at the bottom of the food chain. No economic freedom. That frustrates us so much that we hurt each other. Our own bickering as black people is easily read as people with no respect for humanity and so how can anyone else want to preserve a life that is shown on TV dead like a dog? There are so many apartheid times for blacks in this democracy. Most of the time we inflict it upon ourselves.

We have to stop putting our salvation in politicians who sponsor poverty. We must never despair that the Mandelas, Bikos, Sisulus and Slovos are gone. We are the ones we've been waiting for. I hate cliches and quotes, but change starts from within. We must be the change that we want to see. Self-love is so hard to achieve when we are deliberately enslaved by social grants. It's a veiled insult from government. Its intentions are not to help us but to keep us exactly where we are. It makes us short-sighted and we will never realise our worth and value. 

The anger will ferment, brew and explode in our faces. Blood and gore!