Hell no, we don't want Gbagbo

Image via Wikipedia

Just when I thought we had smartly avoided the obligation to provide political asylum to Libya’s disgraced leader, it appears that our government, ever eager to make an impact in the League of Despots, have offered South Africa as a preferred exile destination to Laurent Gbagbo of the Ivory Coast.

I think we need to make it very clear that South Africa is a safe haven for criminals only. It is no coincidence that our own politicians are all in the process of transition to eminent villains. We can’t have ordinary tin pot dictators settling here, trying to muscle in on the action. We have standards, for crying out loud!

It would be better for Gbabgo to perish in the bunker that he has ensconced himself in. It would be fantastic for him to be forever remembered with the same veneration as Adolf Hitler.

Assuming he somehow weasels his way out the bunker, would Angola please be so kind…

The Naked Emperor Oscars by Zapiro

Good ol’ Zapiro! He’s spot on once again with what’s happening on the African continent. Amazing how a cartoon can say so much in so little space.

Mail & Gaurdian, February 25

Gbagbo… just won't go

Is there something in the air or soil of Africa that nurtures despots, tyrants and just plain bad-ass politicians? Perhaps it’s the African sun? But whatever it is, I’m pretty sure that Africa hosts the majority of the world’s worst leaders [I use the word grudgingly].

The latest in a long line of despots whose minds have seemingly become frizzled by the African sun, and who refuse to relinquish their grip on power, is Laurent Gbagbo of the Ivory Coast. This Bgagbo of shit joins an ignominious assembly of scumbags, who desperately cling to power, and whose utter disregard for humanity is legendary:

• Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe [30 years]
• Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan [21 years]
• Muammar al-Qaddafi of Libya [41 years]
• Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea [31 years]
• Yoweri Museveni of Uganda [24 years]
• Paul Biya of Cameroon [28 years]
• Yahya Jammeh of Gambia [16 years, and oh, get a load of this cretin’s shameless vanity in insisting that he be addressed as His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya Abdul-Azziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh]

For a more comprehensive [but not definitive] list, which incorporates crackpots from all over the world, visit foreignpolicy.com. And this is just a list of the current filth that pollutes world’s political stage. Let’s not even consider the likes of Idi Amin, Mobutu Sese Seko and Jean Bedel Bokassa. The most striking thing about these scum of the earth, is that they would most likely have at some stage in their rotten lives, spoken out against European or Western imperialism and colonialism. So what turns self-proclaimed liberators into fascists?

Do we in South Africa have anything to worry about? Not with Jacob Zuma, I don’t think; it’s abundantly clear he’s just a puppet. However, with the likes of Julius Malema, idling in the wings, mouthing off about revolutionaries on the one hand and agents on the other, I think we need to be extra vigilant…