Malema-The King of Friction

 The ANC Youth League is an offshoot of the ANC, which, as it implies, should deal with youth issues- this should include education, employment, sexually transmitted diseases, under-age pregnancy and so on. However the reality is far from it as the ANCYL seem to have nothing to do with youth issues and they seem to preoccupied with the power struggle in the ruling party.

Julius Malema, as the leader of the youth league of the ANC was instrumental in the overthrowing of Thabo Mbeki's kingdom and the placement of his then hero, Jacob Zuma to the throne. This gave him an elevation to power and afforded him a strong circle of protection from the Zuma Clan, which was then very powerful. Malema's famous words that he would 'die and kill ' for Zuma will never be forgotten.
Julius used this protection to set his mouth in motion in support of the government, Zuma and everything else he thought deserved his protection. His anti white sentiment, his racial slurs and his blatant attacks on the DA and Helen Zille went by with the tacit consent by the ANC.

Despite his R250 000 watch and his being driven in luxury cars, Julius set himself up as a champion for the poor- telling the masses, he lives poor. Even more amusing is how he admits to using capitalism to enrich himself, whilst fighting the same system from which he is getting rich from.
After his attempt to become a partner in a mine fell through, Nationalisation became the new buzz word and the new demand.

Slowly but surely Julius and the Youth League began to embarrass the mother body. For example- Going to Zimbabwe and stating that Mugabe was a great leader and they admired his land reform program. This is month after these very same leaders were condemning Mugabe for his lack of democracy and his hanging to on to power. Indeed, they were suddenly in awe of Mugabe as a leader and a land reform program that threw whites of their productive farms and dished them out to Mugabe loyalists and blacks who supported King Robert. As a result of this wonderful program, farming crumbled and Zimbabwe's last strong wing of their economy, collapsed as the newly distributed farms fell to ruin. What a program to admire Julius.

Somewhere along the way, the Zuma-Malema relationship began to sour. Malema's antics earned him a suspended sentence from the ANC mother body. This did stop him for a while, but Jules, being Jules could not keep his trap shut for long.

He went on a major offensive against the ANC and certain of it's leaders. He continued to romance the poor by pushing his 'nationalize everything' and anti white talk. He does, however, fail to explain how nationalization would filter down to make the poor rich. He also fails to mention the already state run organisations like Eskom, SAA or event he SABC, fail to make annual profits due to mis-management, fraud etc. Based on this, why would the mines and any other organisation the fool wants to nationalize be run any better. But the masses believe him, so he does not have to worry about the explanation or the truth.

I believe that Malema thought he was untouchable. He was under the impression that he could. do and say as he felt and there would be no recourse. How wrong he was.

Now he stands accused by the ANC of many charges and he is being investigated financially- as well as his trust, from which he lives and is reported to have benefited from dodgy tenders. The ANC is split between the Zuma Camp and the Malema Camp. Images outside his hearing were broadcast worldwide of Malema supporters turning Johannesburg into a battle zone, assaulting reports, attacking police, burning ANC flags, T-shirt and posters with JZ'z photo on them.

The truth is that Malema is bad for South Africa. He chased investment prospects from SA with the nationalization calls . The ANC can choose to dismiss Malema, thus setting him on his own and without the ANC, he will fade away.
Or, which is probably what they will do because of their weak leadership, is set him a rehab program etc. (He was supposed to attend anger management courses, but has failed to do so) We all know that this will not happen.
Any decision that does not involve expelling him from the ANC, will put him into a position of power and this will also indicate who really is cracking the whip. The ANC Youth League will be a King maker and this is a dangerous precedent to be setting.

The Rugby Rip Off Cup 2011

Today announces the beginning of the 2011 Rugby World Cup, held in the land of Quake- New Zealand. I am not aiming to be a spirit assassin in this posting, but the one thing that big events highlight is the predictable nature of corporate greed. Articles in both Aussie and NZ papers have complained about the high cost of both tickets and fan jerseys. Now, as I live in South Africa(The current World Cup Champs) I can only really comment on what I see from this country. 

You can go to certain shops and purchase a genuine world cup jersey for the far from economical price of around R600. Yes, for ONE jersey. Sadly people are not ashamed to fork out this massive cost for jerseys to support their country. I guess if you have the money why not? However, by loads of people purchasing these items at the wonderful price of R600, it sends a message to the corporates who benefit from the sales that this is acceptable. 

In my view it is far from this. They still have the utter nerve to have a tag saying 'Real supporters buy genuine' stuff- or something like that. 

The reality of the situation is that we have a country that has mass poverty and the majority of the people, of all races, are living from month to month with unemployment rising by the day. R600 feeds a family for a month- at a stretch. 

The alternatives to this are going down to your friendly shop at the robot (traffic light) where you can buy most things these days and spend R100-R200 for a non genuine item. Now, do not get me wrong- I do not support crime per se. However this is not a clear cut issue that many (usually those who can afford the R600 item) would want us to believe. 

Yes it may be wrong on some levels to purchase a pirate item, but those who do are forced into it by the greed of those whogain from the sales of the genuine item. Why should a supporter of his/ her country not have the right to purchase an affordable item to wear and show this support? Why must the organizations make a killing from items that actually should be priced cheaper as they not only show the support our team has, but it also creates a wonderful bond between the people of this country. As has been evident on many occasions, sport binds us. Therefor the government and sport governing bodies should be doing what they can to help everybody feel part of the occasion and not price it out of the reach of most of us. 

I will not feel guilty or place blame on anybody purchasing a pirate shirt as they will wear it proudly and support the springboks. The guilt of piracy lies at the door of those who gain from the ridiculous prices of items that should be cheap. (Having been made in China-serious!!)

Having said that, fans all over South Africa, wearing pirate and genuine jerseys will be supporting our Springbok team and we all hope they retain the trophy!