At this point, I know what you’re thinking. He’s going to rant about religion again. Actually not; I’m going to rant all right, but not about religion.
Our President, Jacob Zuma stunned the country this weekend by apparently announcing that ANC Youth League (ANCYL) leader, Julius Malema was a leader in the making, worthy of inheriting the reigns of leadership of the ANC which is the ruling [I do not use the word lightly] party in South Africa. Not surprisingly, this vote of confidence in Malema, by the President generated a great deal of turmoil which is still raging.
While this fire was being stoked, the ANCYL declared today that it (the ANCYL) was the best youth organization in the world, not just in South Africa, or even the African continent. There’s no doubt that the petulant little rabble-rousers who make up the ANCYL, and the assortment of cronies both in the ANC and without, who make up their fan club, believe their own rhetoric unquestioningly. When an organization has been allowed to disrespect both women and the elderly, threaten and intimidate anyone who does not conform to their particular myopic views, and spout the most ignorant nonsense in public on important matters, for as long as the ANCYL have, then I suppose they could become good at it; even the best, in the world too.
One can only imagine that this latest bombshell was dreamt up by some enterprizing pseudo-intellectual in the ANCYL, trying to take maximum advantage of the rather unfortunate utterings of the President to create the impression that the future leader of the ruling party would necessarily also have to be the current leader of a truly great organization (the ANCYL), as well. It’s strange how these associations stick.
Problem is, this fantasy about Julius Malema’s leadership qualities and the organizational effectiveness of the ANCYL, are accepted as fact, and believed by a fairly large proportion of the South African population. This is borne out by the overwhelming support, both the ANCYL and Malema enjoys wherever they appear in public. It defies logic, but logic and reason always suffer when the lowest common denominator is emotion. And that’s the source of the influence Malema and the ANCYL have over the population.
Appealing to the primitive instincts of the masses. How can you go wrong there? It’s been done successfully for thousands of years. The poor sods who sing the praises of Malema now, will wake up in a few years time, realize they’ve been had, and then find a new demigod to worship.
Lenny Says 