PURELY PIP – Could SONA be the kick in the pants we needed?
Yoh! Just as I was coming to terms with the Stazi in Parliament and people in funny hats not being the 80s flashback I thought it was, on paying for my much cheaper diesel yesterday, I caught the lunchtime news. That chap Julius is a miracle worker. Seriously. Not only has he inadvertently united South […]
Yoh! Just as I was coming to terms with the Stazi in Parliament and people in funny hats not being the 80s flashback I thought it was, on paying for my much cheaper diesel yesterday, I caught the lunchtime news. That chap Julius is a miracle worker. Seriously. Not only has he inadvertently united South Africa like never before, but has declared Mmusi Maimane, Leader of the Opposition, to be a white man. Dafuq?
Before you think I have actually lapsed, let me explain. What made me realise I wasn’t reliving some vile night in Rocky Street, was the constant stream of pictures, footage and commentary, live to my very un-80s cell phone from friends. Some actually at SONA and some watching at home, all expressing their absolute total 100% outrage.
Let me just add this because it is important: My friends are rainbow coloured, from all walks of life. Some, I swear, have been card-carrying ANC stalwarts since conception.
Who knew that the absolutely correct and appropriate calling of a Point of Order by the EFF could precipitate the rebuilding of the up-to-now subversive destruction of our togetherness? Nothing like a bossy ZANC [the acronymn coined by Malema for the Zuma African National Congress] cadre and her sidekick in a silly bonnet to stoke the cry “Enough is Enough” across the Rainbow and join us in a common cause of National Pissed Offness.
My jaw dropped when one of my most ANC of ANC pals in Jozi posted, “Patriotism means to stand by the Country. It does not mean to stand by the President. To say there must be no criticism of the president…is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the South African public”.
He is good like that, which is why we are such very good friends. Another, who I consider to be a Struggle Aristocrat and the sister of my struggle hero, posted, “I am so disgusted, but will not throw away my SA Citizenship. This country is run by a bunch of bullies who do not know what a democracy is.”
When ladies like her, who actually lost someone for our freedom (and she had her life ripped apart in the most brutal and unforgivable way) speak out this boldly, the rest of us better sit up and take note, and heart.
That men and women of superb intellect, moral fibre and integrity, after the appalling treatment of elected ministers, chose to walk out, turn their backs and vote with their feet, speaks volumes. It was not just our newest white and his DA, but UDM’s General Bantu Holomisa and countless others, who quietly and with dignity left the floor.
There will unfortunately always be those who strip Pick ‘n Pay of every baked bean and candle at the merest whiff of uncertainty.
They are the same crowd who smugly refer to the perceived wrongdoers as the “thems” and to themselves as an “us”. Ignore it. We are all in the same boat. Slinging insults and calling each other names causes division and makes what happened at SONA a missed opportunity. It takes focus off our destination and exhausts those still rowing the boat. Ultimately, when the shouting is done, the boat will still be the boat.
Unite in our National Pissed Offness. Change your words but not the song. #WeAreTakingBackOurMoney