THE BIG READ: Open letter to Malema
Julius Malema, dictator-in-the-making, national gossip and product of those in the ANC who now want him gone.
Image by: KEVIN SUTHERLAND
You are vulgar but not alone in your vulgarity, writes Lukhona Mnguni
Dear Julius Malema, I know we are not friends, and certainly not lovers, but I write to you anyway.
Many scathing attacks have come your way, but I doubt you care. I am sure you sometimes think you, and not Jacob Zuma, run this country.
Be it that people hate you or like you, they talk about you anyway. You have become a brand, by accident or design; your name has heads shaking and tongues wagging.
It is a pity this has made you believe you are untouchable. Are you?
Some say you will be toast after your disciplinary hearing, which starts today.
Juju-man, you have been arguably the most robust president of the ANC Youth League, highly forceful in your assertions.
The problem is that you have dropped your intellect in the process and turned into the most vulgar, disrespectful and tactless leader I know.
You have postured in a manner that makes you stand for everything the South African youth do not stand for.
Your approach to and articulation of things are not those of a leader, especially not in this era.
Many in the ANC have showered you with glory, measuring your militancy against that of Nelson Mandela. What they didn't tell you is that we are now in the 21st century and you have to roll with the times.
They have made you arrogant. Perhaps the buck stops here, today, or maybe it gets passed again.
You have been lying to the poor masses. You manipulate them so well because you are a product of that environment and you know it well.
But instead of desiring to emancipate the poor from their situation, you prefer them where they are so that you can continue with your demagogic utterances. You know that only they will praise that claptrap.
You are the antithesis of what a successful once-poor person should be.
Your deception and coercion of the poor, or those inferior to your political influence, are enough to show me what a dictator in the making we have in you.
Many say you are facing a triple distilled attack - from the Hawks, the public protector and the ANC - and it is twice as smooth, or should I say rough, because this is round two of disciplinary action against you.
Juju, they are forgetting that they are the products of the Polokwane disaster. They created the environment that allows chaos to thrive in the ANC. They forget that you, too, are their product.
Juju, they are the problem, not you.
They want to shift the blame and have us forget that they have been the architects of this doom.
ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe is the man who fought for you when the youth league's Mangaung conference collapsed in 2008. He bestowed on you then legitimate leadership of the league.
I am sure he now fears that that conference left a bad omen in Mangaung and that if you are not stopped, people might show their naked behinds in rebellion against the leadership of Zuma.
Do you think Mantashe is pleased with you for not supporting him for the 2012 conference? Of course not.
And JZ is wondering what happened to that lovely boy who used to say: "We will kill for Zuma."
Then again, I think they turned a deaf ear when you said: "There are no permanent friends in politics."
I will defend your right to raise the issue of nationalisation, but you have a responsibility to be sober about it and listen to opposing voices. You should not paint those who are against your views as counter-revolutionaries.
What do I make of the charges against you? Relax, Juju, nothing is going to happen to you if you are clever.
Some say that if you are out of the way, Zuma will stand a better chance of a second term. I do not believe this. It is Kgalema Motlanthe's campaign for the presidency of the ANC, and ultimately that of the country, that you are compromising.
If Motlanthe continues to be associated with you, he will not be able to avoid the perception that he endorses your vulgarity and radical economic policies.
Some say the ANC and South Africa will be better off without you. I do not agree with this.
Even if you were to be expelled from the party, the elements that produced you will still be left in the ANC.
At least through your controversial comments, we are able to hear what these elements are thinking.
Because your utterances are not entirely your own. They are partly sponsored views. Certain individuals in the ANC support your ill-discipline and vulgarity.
These are the people who are a danger to the ANC and to the rest of the country; not you, Juju.
In fact, you have been good for the country because you are like a gossip. You cannot keep your mouth shut and therefore you save us surprises in the policy-making of the ANC.
By generating public condemnation of what you say, you also help us put brakes on plans inside the ANC.
Julius Malema, if I were to advise you, I would say do not worry about the outcome of your hearing. If you are allowed to remain in the ANC, you will have more power and more reason to mobilise against Mantashe and Zuma.
If you are kicked out of the party, you still have enough influence on the media and communities that you can continue to mobilise people.
Whatever the outcome of the disciplinary proceedings, you will never be the same.
Just as you were suggesting a regime change in Botswana, those opposing you deem it fit to make you an example of how regime change can be effected.
Of course it is political. You are in politics, after all, and you have helped fuel such vindictive politics in the ANC.
Many scathing attacks have come your way, but I doubt you care. I am sure you sometimes think you, and not Jacob Zuma, run this country.
Be it that people hate you or like you, they talk about you anyway. You have become a brand, by accident or design; your name has heads shaking and tongues wagging.
It is a pity this has made you believe you are untouchable. Are you?
Some say you will be toast after your disciplinary hearing, which starts today.
Juju-man, you have been arguably the most robust president of the ANC Youth League, highly forceful in your assertions.
The problem is that you have dropped your intellect in the process and turned into the most vulgar, disrespectful and tactless leader I know.
You have postured in a manner that makes you stand for everything the South African youth do not stand for.
Your approach to and articulation of things are not those of a leader, especially not in this era.
Many in the ANC have showered you with glory, measuring your militancy against that of Nelson Mandela. What they didn't tell you is that we are now in the 21st century and you have to roll with the times.
They have made you arrogant. Perhaps the buck stops here, today, or maybe it gets passed again.
You have been lying to the poor masses. You manipulate them so well because you are a product of that environment and you know it well.
But instead of desiring to emancipate the poor from their situation, you prefer them where they are so that you can continue with your demagogic utterances. You know that only they will praise that claptrap.
You are the antithesis of what a successful once-poor person should be.
Your deception and coercion of the poor, or those inferior to your political influence, are enough to show me what a dictator in the making we have in you.
Many say you are facing a triple distilled attack - from the Hawks, the public protector and the ANC - and it is twice as smooth, or should I say rough, because this is round two of disciplinary action against you.
Juju, they are forgetting that they are the products of the Polokwane disaster. They created the environment that allows chaos to thrive in the ANC. They forget that you, too, are their product.
Juju, they are the problem, not you.
They want to shift the blame and have us forget that they have been the architects of this doom.
ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe is the man who fought for you when the youth league's Mangaung conference collapsed in 2008. He bestowed on you then legitimate leadership of the league.
I am sure he now fears that that conference left a bad omen in Mangaung and that if you are not stopped, people might show their naked behinds in rebellion against the leadership of Zuma.
Do you think Mantashe is pleased with you for not supporting him for the 2012 conference? Of course not.
And JZ is wondering what happened to that lovely boy who used to say: "We will kill for Zuma."
Then again, I think they turned a deaf ear when you said: "There are no permanent friends in politics."
I will defend your right to raise the issue of nationalisation, but you have a responsibility to be sober about it and listen to opposing voices. You should not paint those who are against your views as counter-revolutionaries.
What do I make of the charges against you? Relax, Juju, nothing is going to happen to you if you are clever.
Some say that if you are out of the way, Zuma will stand a better chance of a second term. I do not believe this. It is Kgalema Motlanthe's campaign for the presidency of the ANC, and ultimately that of the country, that you are compromising.
If Motlanthe continues to be associated with you, he will not be able to avoid the perception that he endorses your vulgarity and radical economic policies.
Some say the ANC and South Africa will be better off without you. I do not agree with this.
Even if you were to be expelled from the party, the elements that produced you will still be left in the ANC.
At least through your controversial comments, we are able to hear what these elements are thinking.
Because your utterances are not entirely your own. They are partly sponsored views. Certain individuals in the ANC support your ill-discipline and vulgarity.
These are the people who are a danger to the ANC and to the rest of the country; not you, Juju.
In fact, you have been good for the country because you are like a gossip. You cannot keep your mouth shut and therefore you save us surprises in the policy-making of the ANC.
By generating public condemnation of what you say, you also help us put brakes on plans inside the ANC.
Julius Malema, if I were to advise you, I would say do not worry about the outcome of your hearing. If you are allowed to remain in the ANC, you will have more power and more reason to mobilise against Mantashe and Zuma.
If you are kicked out of the party, you still have enough influence on the media and communities that you can continue to mobilise people.
Whatever the outcome of the disciplinary proceedings, you will never be the same.
Just as you were suggesting a regime change in Botswana, those opposing you deem it fit to make you an example of how regime change can be effected.
Of course it is political. You are in politics, after all, and you have helped fuel such vindictive politics in the ANC.
- Mnguni is a reader of The Times
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