Rustenburg, July 3.)
***
I've disparaged the expelled ANC Youth League leader Julius "Juju"
Malema on more than one occasion on this blog for his antics at the
time.
See for instance:
(Page Address: http://alexengwete.blogspot.com/2011/07/batshit-insane-america-you-bloodthirsty.html)
Well, I've changed my mind.
Maybe--just maybe!-- Juju is the emergent leader who'd save ANC from
itself and South Africa from the derelictions of Jacob Zuma and his
corruption- and nepotism-riddled administration.
(Incidentally, Zuma's downfall could also be a good thing for the DRC
as he keeps turning a blind eye on the exports of weapons to Rwanda by
South African arms manufacturers.
And a day ago oppostion Democratic Alliance (DA) MP David Maynier
tweeted that he'd just "called for [a South African] arms embargo on
Rwanda following the UN Group of Experts report on the situation in
the DRC.")
Since his expulsion from the ANC, Juju has re-emerged as a crafty and
intelligent politician, a defender of the press he once was wont to
revile, and an ANC formidable dissident to reckon with as he still
firmly commands a following of thousands of young supporters.
And what's even more worrisome to some top brass in the ANC, Juju, in
his autopilot vengeful crusade, has turned into Zuma's bane.
In fact, the political re-emergence of Juju should serve as a
cautionary tale to political leaders who are too quick to stifle
internal dissent by sidelining or expelling dissidents.
And I even suspect that in hindsight ANC leaders are now biting their
nails over their foolish decision to expel Juju, for he's turned into
a major liability to that political movement with his unrelenting
public criticism of its dysfunctions and internal dictatorial
practices.
In late May, for instance, in the midst of the controversy that
embroiled Brett Murray's painting "The Speara," when some ANC leaders
were calling for the boycott of the daily City Press that had kept the
photo of the offending painting on its website, Juju by contrast
penned an op-ed defending the paper.
Juju's op-ed was titled "In Defense of City Press."
Juju wrote:
"Complete closure and banning of different views and perspectives to
what leaders believe to be absolute truths can never be something to
celebrate, particularly if such is done by the African National
Congress leadership."
(Page Address: www.amandlapublishers.co.za/special-features/the-spear-and-freedom-of-expression/1275-in-defence-of-city-press--by-julius-malema)
If ANC leaders thought that that was all the kind of mild attacks they
could expect from Juju, they had had plenty of time since then to
think again.
For Juju was only warming up.
On Tuesday, July 3, Juju viciously lashed out at Zuma in front of
hundreds of his chanting supporters in Rustenburg, a city located some
100 kilometers northwest of Johannesburg.
Juju accused Zuma of "sleeping with the children of his friends"; of
transforming his family members from "taxi tycoons to
multimillionaires in no time."
Juju even prophesied doom on Zuma's legacy:
"[Zuma's] legacy is Nkandla, killing the youth league, suppressing
debate, corruption and lack of personal respect."
Nkandla is the hometown of Zuma in KwaZulu-Natal where the first new
town of post-apartheid South Africa is about to be built.
The Nkandla Project is officially called the "Umalazi-Nkandla Smart
Growth Centre" Project, whereas critics dub it "Zumaville."
Juju, more damningly, called Zumaville the "New York City of
KwaZulu-Natal" as some of his supporters were chanting: "Down with
tribalism!"
(Juju is from the seSotho-speaking Pedi ethnic group.)
(Page Address: mg.co.za/article/2012-07-04-juju-tells-us-what-he-really-thinks-of-zuma)
Zumaville is by no means Zuma's first taxpayer-funded real-estate
development project at Nkandla.
In 2009, I posted a rant on this blog about another Nkandla Project, a
midget project compared this Pharaonic city development project in the
middle of nowhere.
At the time, Zuma was only expanding (what the Mail & Guardian of
Johannesburg described as) his "remote family homestead at Nkandla in
rural KwaZulu-Natal for a whopping price" of $10m, with taxpayers
"footing the largest chunk of the bill."
(Page Address: alexengwete.blogspot.com/2009/12/african-news-roundup-project-nkandla-10.html?m=1)
As it turns out, the investigative team of the Mail & Guardian put
today an estimate of the bill to be footed by South African taxpayers
in Zumaville at R1billion (today's rate is $1 = R8.3348) in an article
titled "Welcome to Zumaville."
And that bill would grow wildly as this estimate is only for costs
related to the development of the core area that would ultimately
expand into the city of Zumaville proper.
Furthermore, Zumaville, which is at some 3 km from Zuma's home, is
being built in a rural "area [that] has no sewer or stormwater
infrastructure and the electricity infrastructure would have to be
upgraded substantially."
Excerpt from the article:
"The rapid state-sponsored development of Zuma's hometown has already
been criticised and he has been accused of putting his interests, and
those of his family, above those of the people of South
Africa.
"In July, expelled ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema accused him
of building a 'New York City
of KwaZulu-Natal' in Nkandla.
"So the 'Zumaville' plans could plague the ANC leader as politicking
in the party heats up in the run-up to the party's elective conference
in Mangaung in December."
(Page Address: mg.co.za/article/2012-08-03-00-taxpayers-will-have-to-pick-up-r1-bn-tab-for-zumaville)
If anything, Juju's influence and popularity have grown at the
grassroots level of the ANC since his explusion.
And Juju is busy managing a serious pet project of his own:
engineering the downfall of his former boss, Zuma.
At that rally on July 3, Juju was calling on the ANC rank and file to
boot out Zuma in December.
***
PHOTO CREDITS: mg.co.za
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