Of governments and just deserts . . .

Mr Lekota, having accepted an invitation for a meeting from some business people of Stellenbosch, proceeded to arrive some 2 hours late. Not a good showing for a new deal kinda guy, I’d say. The hosts, even though some decided to vote with their time-conscious feet, were persuaded that the man’s personal safety is a good enough reason to be late – sort of like being late for golf because you first had to see to the birth of your child.

It is during this Stellenbosch meeting that he was asked whether there was any truth to the rumour that COPE was planning to go into bed with DA and produce democratic people with a congress. In response Mr Lekota mused out loud as to why Msholozi was picking on the white lady. Anyway, he was not going to take any of that. Who said chivalry was dead? For someone who has outsourced the safety of his loved ones to ADT I probably should shut up when it comes to matters chivalry related.

And then there was all that talk about dying and going to the grave in pairs. Once again for a new deal guy he really ought to choose his words wisely. This is said presumably to demonstrate the ultimate commitment to the defence of democracy. I don’t know about laying one’s life down for democracy or for a leader of your particular liking, what I do suspect is that Mr Lekota did not mean death like that. After all, he is not too keen to be without his police protection, a matter that led to him showing up late at the meeting under discussion.

The view of the hosts is that this man should be knighted or something close. In their words (paraphrased of course – I’m the one at the keyboard so complain all you like) they invited Mr Lekota to among others see who the saving grace for the country is or can be during these trying times. They wanted (probably still do) to satisfy themselves that we are not going to the dogs. I’m not sure how all that clever deductions and conclusions were reached. To each his own, I guess. All this, before the man and his new party have done or said anything to demonstrate that they are a new deal kinda bunch - with respect.

Seriously though, is Jacob Zuma really a racialist person? I suspect that there is a distinction between being racialist and being racist. According to Mr Lekota, Msholozi picked on the alliance thing with the DA because the DA is led by the white lady. I ask again are these racialist tendencies that Msholozi is showing, among his other attributes? Notably Mr Lekota cautions that the president of the ANC must judge the DA on its policies and not the colour of its leader. Methinks Terror doth protest too much. Surely both the colour and policies of the DA are known – they have a website for crying out loud.

As for the defence of democracy that politicians will be bandying about from now until the announcement of the election results – something tells me that the surest way to defend democracy is to practice it. I have this mantra (which I may have inadvertently plagiarised from somewhere or came up with during the time I went fishing with my friends from Durban): “Love thrives only in its own presence”. This however I have just come up with: “Democracy, like love, thrives only in its own presence”. As you accept democratic outcomes, however unpalatable and work to sway others to your side of debate, that way, democracy thrives. It follows however that, if there is no democracy around, it does not matter how much of a democrat you are, you best get out of the tent, piss into the tent and run.

Cope does not have the luxury of poorly chosen words and ill-considered statements and badly phrased proclamations. It will not, for very good reasons, be judged by Julius Malema’s standards. Besides, even Jacob Zuma agrees that we deserve better when it comes to standards of behaviour.

On the other hand the face and candidate for the president of the Republic of South Africa, of the ANC is Jacob Zuma. Not only was he the preferred candidate and now president of the ANC, he will (all things being equal) be put forward as candidate for the presidency. This much has been confirmed repeatedly. " . . . for as long as there is no guilty verdict against Zuma, he will be the face of the election campaign and the candidate for president . . ." so goes the official position. If the company one keeps remains an acceptable measure of judgement of ones character, then I have some unresolved petit bourgeois concerns.

In the end though, we the people, shall get the government we deserve, no more and no less.