I actually hate writing about the ANC Youth League and its merry men (and some women) of morons. Even thinking about the ANCYL leaves me slightly nauseous. As a journalist, every week I make an internal pact with myself to steer clear, as far as possible, of having to cover anything to do with the ANCYL or to even mention that name that shan't be uttered (Julius Malema). Like Harry Potter's Valdemort, who's name also can never be uttered (but always is in the movies) Malema consistently crops up in the media. h
This leads many to believe we, as journos, are Malema-obsessed. Usually when Youth League events are covered in the media, you'll find it's a slow news day or week. But, sadly, we have to, from to time , indulge this grouping of grown up kindergartners, by giving them coverage. However, I could resist writing about the League and more specifically Floyd Shivambu, that ever-articulate spin sangoma of the league, this time round. I'm sorry, but I have a good reason.
I listened with a mix of shock and delight at a soundbyte of Shivambu telling a Media 24 journalist to f-off. The byte was recorded and is, as I type, being broadcast across the airwaves. At first, I exploded into peels of laughter at an irate Shivambu repeatedly telling the reporter to f-off. Jacques Dommisse somehow managed to keep his cool and strung Shivambu on for a few more seconds, before another salvo of curses flew out of his mouth. In the medium of radio, even a few seconds of a soundbyte is all you need to hit a story home effectively. I hope Dommisse himself was laughing hysterically as he was being told off by this self-styled spokesperson. Shivambu can rarely be taken seriously. I've heard him mangle up the ANCYL's dimwitted policies and viewpoints on numerous occasions. Even when he pretends to know what he's talking about, I can't help but smile. It's also not the first time he's sworn at a journalist. In fact, it seems to be ANCYL policy these days to curse the imperialist, colonialist, capitalist media of South Africa. When his short fuse burns up and his temper gallops away, my smiles turn to open guffaws, followed by air-punches. It means we, as the media fraternity, have won, in a sense. By getting Shivambu to show his true colours, it gives us ammunition to demonstrate, intelligently, just how rogue the League has become under Malema and Jacob Zuma's watch. A Media Tribunal for us errant, naughty journalists? How about a tribunal for Shivambu?
Like a stand up comedian recently told an audience in Cape Town, 'I don't know why people, especially Whites, take Malema and ANCYL so seriously. They are a joke.' Bravo, well put. Perhaps Shivambu should consider expanding his limited talents to the arena of stand up comedy where he can tear into all and sundry, without even having to have a knack for doing comedy. He's a walking, breathing joke all by himself.
His shows would be pre-empted with disclaimers 'Nothing coming out of Floyd's mouth should be viewed in a serious context.' He could belch and bluster about nationalisation, how White people are devils and how his boss, Jules, cares about the poor by going on extravagant safari holidays and building mansions for himself. Instead of taking the bait, we could just sit back and giggle, knowing full well, Shivambu and Co. are doing a fine job by themselves of making a mockery of their organisation.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Playing the game of Communism
I'm not by any stretch of the imagination an expert on communism, Marxism, socialism or pretty much any -ism for that matter. Too many letters, too many concepts and, boy oh boy is 'Das Kapital' not just the furthest thing from an interesting read? Basically, it's just too much of too many things, coming too quickly amid an ever-changing political climate sweeping the globe.
It's too dense and anachronistic an ideology for the 21st Century to take seriously as it's written my Marx. The past millennium took communism too seriously, often with little choice in the matter, resulting in millions of people dying, entire economies crumbling and, more importantly, it gave rise to way too many dangerous personalities, many of them eventually turned out mad and deluded. The likes of Lenin, Castro and Pol Pot mangled the concept of communism into terrifying doctrines, punctuated by fear, megalomania, arrogance and megadeath. A select few of our own did emerge from the struggle as heroes cloaked in liberation struggle glory. But they soon realised, applying socialism in South Africa was never going to work as easily as they may have thought and hoped.
In 2011 communism and its cousin socialism are still very much alive. There's nothing wrong with this. Something is needed to try and counter the devastating impact capitalism can have. But politics and economic theories, like almost everything in life and the natural world, must constantly change and transmogrify. How else would they survive? But what happens when political parties and left-leaning governments (such as South Africa's) become, shall we say, frustrated with the slow pace at which socialism is being realised and is actually being left behind in this never-ending race of ideologies? The likes of so-called socialists/communists, like Julius Malema and (a deep, brave breath) Blade Nzimande (yup, the 'King of the Left') don't seem to understand the the idiom of practice what you preach. The little Commissar of the SACP relishes any chance to mangle 'The Communist Manifesto'. His speeches are almost always littered with Communism-isms. Terms like 'vanguard', 'class consciousness', 'class alienation', 'permanent revolution' do find their way, somehow, into his speeches, depending on the setting. yet this is the cabinet minister who thinks there's noticing wrong with being ushered around in a million rand Merc. It may be the only visible sign of hypocrisy in Nzimande's case, but it's one too many considering he's the guy leading the country's reds. Of course, his viewpoints on another crucial aspect of communism, nationalisation, strangely veers off into the distance. Comrade Julius is left to hammer this home. And boy is he making a noise. The problem is, Jules doesn't seem to have a cooking clue about nationalisation or real communism. His speeches, while firey, are very basic and dumbed-down, lacking in substance. That's probably because he himself hasn't bothered to to do his homework. yet he wants to toy with an entire country's economic health.
If him and Blade were true reds, they'd sell their mansions, their flashy vehicles, expensive watches and give up Johnny Walker Gold and their iPhones. All this money (they repeatedly insist they don't earn) should then technically be redistributed to the masses, as it clearly states in the 'The Communist Manifesto'. Socialism for dummies, indeed. They apply the theory as they want to.
The only class consciousness in Malema's mind is how conscious he was not to attend proper classes at school. A 'vanguard' to him may be interpreted as someone who guards vans. Nzimande, as erudite as he likes to present himself, also seems to selectively interpret the basic tenets of communism as he pleases. Redistribution of wealth to him and his fellow cadres at the top of the SACP food chain, means ensuring the money is channeled straight back to the tripartite alliance and no further. This is a middle-finger to the poor.
But there is no better example of the glaring ignorance of communism than a strike and a protest march in modern day South Africa. Every unionist with a microphone will gladly bellow out commie slogans.'Comrades, capitalism is evil. It must be killed' belched a pot-bellied NUMSA official at a recent demonstration in Cape Town. Yet that very same comrade was wearing expensive leather shoes, complete with designer jeans. Oh, and he was spotted making notes on an iPad. How very 'grassroots' of him?
Pretence is the backbone to all forms of politics. As are lying, greed and stupidity.
It's too dense and anachronistic an ideology for the 21st Century to take seriously as it's written my Marx. The past millennium took communism too seriously, often with little choice in the matter, resulting in millions of people dying, entire economies crumbling and, more importantly, it gave rise to way too many dangerous personalities, many of them eventually turned out mad and deluded. The likes of Lenin, Castro and Pol Pot mangled the concept of communism into terrifying doctrines, punctuated by fear, megalomania, arrogance and megadeath. A select few of our own did emerge from the struggle as heroes cloaked in liberation struggle glory. But they soon realised, applying socialism in South Africa was never going to work as easily as they may have thought and hoped.
In 2011 communism and its cousin socialism are still very much alive. There's nothing wrong with this. Something is needed to try and counter the devastating impact capitalism can have. But politics and economic theories, like almost everything in life and the natural world, must constantly change and transmogrify. How else would they survive? But what happens when political parties and left-leaning governments (such as South Africa's) become, shall we say, frustrated with the slow pace at which socialism is being realised and is actually being left behind in this never-ending race of ideologies? The likes of so-called socialists/communists, like Julius Malema and (a deep, brave breath) Blade Nzimande (yup, the 'King of the Left') don't seem to understand the the idiom of practice what you preach. The little Commissar of the SACP relishes any chance to mangle 'The Communist Manifesto'. His speeches are almost always littered with Communism-isms. Terms like 'vanguard', 'class consciousness', 'class alienation', 'permanent revolution' do find their way, somehow, into his speeches, depending on the setting. yet this is the cabinet minister who thinks there's noticing wrong with being ushered around in a million rand Merc. It may be the only visible sign of hypocrisy in Nzimande's case, but it's one too many considering he's the guy leading the country's reds. Of course, his viewpoints on another crucial aspect of communism, nationalisation, strangely veers off into the distance. Comrade Julius is left to hammer this home. And boy is he making a noise. The problem is, Jules doesn't seem to have a cooking clue about nationalisation or real communism. His speeches, while firey, are very basic and dumbed-down, lacking in substance. That's probably because he himself hasn't bothered to to do his homework. yet he wants to toy with an entire country's economic health.
If him and Blade were true reds, they'd sell their mansions, their flashy vehicles, expensive watches and give up Johnny Walker Gold and their iPhones. All this money (they repeatedly insist they don't earn) should then technically be redistributed to the masses, as it clearly states in the 'The Communist Manifesto'. Socialism for dummies, indeed. They apply the theory as they want to.
The only class consciousness in Malema's mind is how conscious he was not to attend proper classes at school. A 'vanguard' to him may be interpreted as someone who guards vans. Nzimande, as erudite as he likes to present himself, also seems to selectively interpret the basic tenets of communism as he pleases. Redistribution of wealth to him and his fellow cadres at the top of the SACP food chain, means ensuring the money is channeled straight back to the tripartite alliance and no further. This is a middle-finger to the poor.
But there is no better example of the glaring ignorance of communism than a strike and a protest march in modern day South Africa. Every unionist with a microphone will gladly bellow out commie slogans.'Comrades, capitalism is evil. It must be killed' belched a pot-bellied NUMSA official at a recent demonstration in Cape Town. Yet that very same comrade was wearing expensive leather shoes, complete with designer jeans. Oh, and he was spotted making notes on an iPad. How very 'grassroots' of him?
Pretence is the backbone to all forms of politics. As are lying, greed and stupidity.
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