Another middle-finger to the chumps in power

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I’m finally registered and rearing to vote in the local elections on 18 May 2011. It’s been more than 16 years since I’ve been this enthusiastic about voting.

You see this time I’m really looking forward to the pure pleasure of voting AGAINST THE ANC. I have no illusions that my single vote coupled with those of the thinking public, is going to make any difference to the hold on power that the ANC has somehow managed to retain despite its woeful track record, but at least I get to show them the middle-finger in the most diplomatic way possible.

So the big question is, who to vote for?

I’ve been thinking about this carefully; I don’t want to just vote for anyone in opposition to the ANC. That would be tantamount to not voting at all. As usual there is no shortage of choice. There are a total of 164 political Parties registered by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to contest the vote. That’s a lot, but is there any quality there?

Having eliminated the ANC by default, I have had a cursory look at the other parties on the IEC’s website. Some stand out for curiosity value, others give me the chills for what they represent, and at least one has the cutest name for a Party – Keep It Straight and Simple (KISS).

There is an astonishing number of political Parties riding on the religious ticket, mostly Christianity. One wonders why they all couldn’t get together and form a united Christian front. But I suppose it is merely an extension of the fractured nature of the Christian community at large – too many disparate denominations competing to sell the same discredited ideology. I did notice at least one Party with Muslim leanings, but I’d be dumbfounded if they have more that a smattering of support.

There is one called the God’s People’s Party (GPP). But let’s not even go there!

The large number of political Parties with religious affiliations/leanings is rather disconcerting. It’s been a long, bloody and painful journey on which the world finally ousted religion from politics, and here in South Africa they’re all clamoring to get back in again. Has Church [and other religions] attendance dropped so low, that they need their old platform to proselytize from again, and indeed, potential new sources of revenue generation?

Another Party that I eliminated as a matter of course, is the Congress of the People (COPE). The ugly public spat between its leaders for control of the Party, discredit them immediately; it’s blatantly obvious they’re more interested in the power, prestige, influence and trappings of wealth that political office can bring (especially in South Africa with its largely naive political mentality). To go with COPE, there’s the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP). This is a Party of has-been’s that is slowly but surely falling apart, very publicly. Enough said!

Another which looks enticing is the Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party (AITUP). Off course, we all know what a pipe dream that is.

All in all a large choice, but unfortunately very little with any decent track record of “for the people.” Politicians, unfortunately by and large cannot be trusted. But we do need someone who have at least a modicum of decency and trustworthiness. Someone who understands that they govern for my benefit, not their own. To my mind the only Party that have demonstrated a willingness to serve the people with a semblance of honesty and integrity is the Democratic Alliance (DA).

I have therefore selected the DA to receive my vote of confidence. If and when the DA decide to betray my trust, I will be showing them the middle-finger too.

Blasphemous? Hell no! Desperate? Good heavens yes!

There was much consternation this weekend over President Jacob Zuma’s moronic utterance while campaigning for the upcoming election, that a vote for the ANC will get one into heaven.

While many people, including Church leaders saw this statement as blasphemous, others were perturbed that a politician, especially one who wields the ultimate power could so callously drag religion into politics when the constitution clearly demands a separation of Church and State.

I on the other hand can distinctly discern not a blatant abuse of the constitution, but rather a pathetic desperation on the part of Zuma and the ANC. Coming ahead of the State of the Nation address and the release of a document by the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), which meticulously lists 50 of President Zuma’s broken promises, I have no hesitation in concluding that the ANC [and Zuma] are fresh out of promises, and with this idiotic statement are now resorting to idle religious threats; the kind we are all familiar with through e-mail and pamphlets: repent or else or follow Jesus or else.

Promises. Yes, these con men have made them all and broken them all. And now they promise the impossible; a ticket to imaginary heaven!

It’s inconceivable that in a so-called civilized democratic country, 50 promises [apparently there were in reality much more than 50] made by a political leader in public, could be so shamelessly broken. Most people would forgive a few, but certainly not 50. But that’s what we as South Africans have done. We have been shamelessly tolerant of lies and deceit. We have allowed these calculating bastards in power to pull the sheep over our eyes.

We need to redeem ourselves…

Kanye West’s tribute to Jacob Zuma’s government

When I first heard the song Runaway by Kanye West on the radio, I thought it was the most atrocious thing I had heard for a long while. Since then……………I have not changed my mind; however I do believe that it could be the most appropriate tribute for Jacob Zuma’s cabinet, especially after the Democratic Alliance’s 2010 rating of this obscene collection of misfits [the only notable exception being Pravin Gordhan for demonstrating exceptional competence in turning the South African Revenue Service around, and now running a functioning Finance Ministry].

Off course, the Finance Ministry has always been a shining light in the ANC government’s cabinets since Nelson Mandela [another exception] appointed Chris Liebenberg in 1994. The obvious reason being that money seems to be the most important concern of our liberators from Apartheid; money that can’t seem to stop finding its way into the back pockets of these revolutionaries and their cronies.

Anyway, you know the whole sordid story of how liberators liberate us from our wealth…

Here’s the chorus of the song Runaway; I don’t want to bore you with the rest of the crappy lyrics and ridiculously long video.

Let’s have a toast for the douchebags,

Let’s have a toast for the assholes,

Let’s have a toast for the scumbags,

Every one of them that I know

Let’s have a toast to the jerkoffs,

That’ll never take work off

Baby I got a plan

Run away fast as you can

A long walk to fiefdom

I just thought that while I’m on a political ranting roll this evening, I might as well slip this one in; it’s been bothering me since I read the ugly news.

While Nelson Mandela had a truly long walk to freedom, the new ANC-government under the leadership (sic) of Jacob Zuma has just completed its long walk to fiefdom. Yes, the ANC-government has truly arrived, to claim its prize, formerly known as South Africa.

Figures released for questionable government expenditure of public funds, in the opposition Democratic Alliance’s Wasteful Expenditure Monitor makes your eyes water, or makes you lick your lips in glee, depending on which side of the political fence you’re luxuriating in:

• R99-million on upgrades to the residences of public officials
• R120,5-million on a variety of items, including unnecessary rental space, luxury cars and artwork
• Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu spent about R7-million on four Mercedes-Benz vehicles
• The total spent on new vehicles by Zuma’s government was now R65,8-million
• The total spent on parties, conferences and similar events now totalled R209-million
• World Cup tickets by Cabinet members, municipalities and state-owned enterprises: R135,9-million
• The state has also spent R209-million on parties and conferences, and a further R241-million on “unnecessary property rentals, hotel stays and property renovations. This included the R515 000 spent by Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda on “prolonged stays” at luxury five-star establishments, including Cape Town’s Mount Nelson and Twelve Apostles hotels, which the ANC defended as “within the limits specified in the Minister’s Handbook.”

That’s just for starters. It gets worse better; let’s check what’s on the main course. Recent reports that loudmouth ANC-Youth League President Julius Malema had managed to convince the ruling-ANC government to consider nationalization of mines, was meant only for consumption by the utterly gullible followers of this absurd organization. It’s pretty certain that the nationalization of mines has been on the ANC-government agenda all along; they just needed this fool and his ignorant followers to give it life, to make it appear as if coming from the people, rather than initiated by the greedy government.

We all know, that a fiefdom needs money-spinning operations to make it that more attractive, and since they’re depleting the other sources of revenue at an astonishing rate, the mines are really a no-sweat grab; ask Robert Mugabe.

Now how about some dessert? Why not reward some of your cronies who came to dinner bearing bottles of Veuve Clicquot and Johnny Walker Blue, with some choice appointments (otherwise known as cadre deployment), to some of our finest state-owned utilities; to do with as they please. After all, what is a fiefdom, if you can’t own, and fuck up everything at will.

Boy, are the serfs in for a surprize when they finally wake up!

Helen Zille Quote

Leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance and President of Cape Town, Helen Zille was quoted this morning during a radio interview as saying that the ANC was a:

small, elite kleptocracy masquerading as a liberation party

I thought it was pretty funny, even though Helen is generally a very earnest women, not known for being humorous. Perhaps she was not trying to be funny at all, because those words are chillingly true. It’s a real pity that most South Africans won’t read this quote or even understand what it means. I’m pretty sure Julius Malema, President of the ANC Youth League won’t, because he’ll claim that kleptocracy is not a word in the Pedi language. [According to my spell checker, Pedi is not a word in the English language; Julius must be fuming]

It’s also a pity that Helen is a white women, because that seems to be the only valid reason why she is not South Africa’s President. Most South Africans will not vote for a white person, let alone a white women, because the damage caused by apartheid seems to still run very deep. And that too is a real pity.