The curious Mr Malema . . .

There was once a disruption of the Johannesburg central business district. Well, the city was pretty much brought to a standstill. The details are a little scatchy to me now but it apparently had to do with unhappy high school pupils, apparently members of Congress of South African Students (Cosas), then under the leadership of among others, Mr Julius Malema. The march was in protest of the department of education's directive that school gates be locked during teaching time for security reasons; so the newspaper reports go. It was also reported that the march turned nasty as the pupils smashed cars, shops and looted.

This is old news, probably forgotten now like most things painful. The story of mayhem and destruction on that fateful Friday in 2002, is not the point of this post. I am just intrigued by how curiously all this had turned out. Eventually the indomitable Winnie Mandela had to step in to quell the disruptions and mayhem on the streets of Johannesburg. Strong words were spoken about the terrible behaviour of the youth. Such behaviour was not to be tolerated. This was however not an unexpected turn of events - historically whenever Cosas took to the streets, mayhem followed. Invariably unruly elements whom we are told are rouge elements who are not members of Cosas, are blamed for the mayhem. Later in life Mr Malema is again at the centre of controversy - threatening to kill and crush those who get in the ANC's way. A lot has been made of what Mr Malema meant when he made that and similar statements. It is even said that this issue was resolved between Mr Malema and the Human Rights Commission - as if it were ever between him and the HRC. He accuses an SABC reporter and the management of the SABC of being against the ANC. He calls Dr Skweyiya an old man who pretty much talks behind his back and is afraid to speak to him directly. He calls another elderly gentleman a liar. He pretty much brings the ANC into disrepute.

How then does an organisation of the ANC's pedigree come to have Mr Malema as one of its leaders? On the other hand is it out of the ordinary for the ANC to have the likes of Mr Malema among its leaders? I think that both these questions are unfair on the ANC, they are however important questions for the ANC to ponder carefully if it is to graduate from a liberation movement to a 21st century political party. As a liberation movement, membership of the ANC was a badge of honour. It was being on the right side of history, being on the winning team. Today, the ANC like political parties the world over fights for votes more than membership. The liberation job is done, badly or well it is done. The liberation job involved rendering the apartheid state ungovernable - the current job is all about governing and governing well. The voting public continue to align itself with the ANC based on the role it played in bringing about the right to vote; this however will not be the case in the near future. Reputation and current performance by the ANC through its membership is becoming more important. As my grand-mother would say, "show me your friends and I will show you, you". Show me your leadership and I will decide whether I would like to be associated with you. This however does not seem to be of immediate concern to the ANC.

These comments are not meant to muzzle Mr Malema, to the contrary he should speak and criticise and disagree to his heart's content. Curious as it may seem, it is important for our country that the right of the likes of Mr Malema to speak is secured without qualification. In return for the freedom of expression, Mr Malema, the public deserves common decency. The public needs assurance that Mr Malema will not lead a demonstration similar to the one he led some 6 years ago - a reasonable assurance to ask for under the circumstances. The public also deserve assurance that it will not be crushed if it were to disagree with Mr Malema, lest the disagreement be equated to standing in Mr Malema's way.

This may come accross as unfair on Mr Malema; but it does make the point I hope. There are a variety of individuals accross the South African political landscape to whom this may apply. The point is that the voting public deserves to be taken seriously and to be treated with respect. The curious thing though is that Mr Malema seems to thrive on doing and saying the very things that puts him at odds with the public. The same things puts the ANC at odds with the very public that will go (or not go) to the polls in 6 months or so. So far there has not been a resounding denouncement of not Mr Malema, but of his conduct by the ANC. My recollection is that discipline has historically played an important role in the ANC. It cannot be that Mr Malema is above that discipline; but then again there has been a great deal of ill-discipline in the ANC lately.

Maybe Mr Malema is not that curious after all . . .