I despise bullies. Inevitably, my first experience of that was at school. Well I remember being lifted up by my shirt and banged against a school wall while the big, grinning bully and his cronies laughed at me hanging against the wall, shoes dangling in the air. I had done nothing to deserve this. If I was a school principal I would crack down unbelievably hard on any form of bullying in schools. This includes teachers.
Julius Malema and his crony, Floyd Shivambu, have become bullies. Bullies are cowards and lack strength of character. They have no backbone and no moral integrity. They are a shame and a disgrace to South Africa. These bullies prey on the weak. They serve their own puerile interests. The interests of the nation and its diverse, wonderful cultures and groups are irrelevant to these monsters-in-waiting. They have no grasp of real leadership. Malema has managed to terrify the wits out of farmers, the boere, with his bullying tactics in that stupid chant about boere, killing them and accusing them of rape. Some have been murdered and injured because of Malema’s incendiary braying. Grow up, boy. The president of South Africa also lacks backbone and leadership as he lets Malema does as he please. Hence my previous blog, a bleak satire of sorts, was not even vaguely funny.
But Malema and his cronies will lose. Freedom of the press in this country will prevail. Because at the end of the day the truth and the pursuit of the truth will prevail. Integrity, strength of character, fair play, all human rights, peaceful solutions — at the end of the day — will win. We may not oust Malema from his position as president of the ANCYL — yet — but we can number the bully’s days as someone who will not have any real influence over the future of this beloved country. I may be speaking from New Zealand because of my insatiable desire to globe-trot, but I love the country and cultures of South Africa. We will win because there will always be a free press, a voice of conscience. The free press in South Africa is like a cockroach. It can survive anything. Viva Free Press! Long live!
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SpeakZA Bloggers for a free press
Last week, shocking revelations concerning the activities of ANC Youth League Spokesperson Nyiko Floyd Shivambu came to the fore. According to a letter published in various news outlets, a complaint was laid by 19 political journalists with the secretary-general of the ANC, against Shivambu. This complaint letter detailed attempts by Shivambu to leak a dossier to certain journalists, purporting to expose the money-laundering practices of Dumisane Lubisi, a journalist atCity Press. The letter also detailed the intimidation that followed when these journalists refused to publish these revelations.
We condemn in the strongest possible terms the reprisals against journalists by Shivambu. His actions constitute a blatant attack on media freedom and a grave infringement on constitutional rights. It is a disturbing step towards dictatorial rule in South Africa.
We call on the ANC and the ANC Youth League to distance themselves from the actions of Shivambu. The media have, time and again, been a vital democratic safeguard by exposing the actions of individuals who have abused their positions of power for personal and political gain.
The press have played a vital role in the liberation struggle, operating under difficult and often dangerous conditions to document some of the most crucial moments in the struggle against apartheid. It is therefore distressing to note that certain people within the ruling party are willing to maliciously target journalists by invading their privacy and threatening their colleagues in a bid to silence them in their legitimate work.
We also note the breathtaking hubris displayed by Shivambu and ANC Youth League President Julius Malema in their response to the letter of complaint. Shivambu and Malema clearly have no respect for the media and the rights afforded to the media by the Constitution of South Africa. Such a response serves only to reinforce the position that the motive for leaking the so-called dossier was not a legitimate concern, but an insolent effort to intimidate and bully a journalist who had exposed embarrassing information about the youth league president.
We urge the ANC as a whole to reaffirm its commitment to media freedom and other constitutional rights we enjoy as a country.
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Bullies probably serve some evolutionary purpose for the survival of a people. Standing up to bullies is a necessary prelude to standing up to all the other challenges life will inevitably throw at you.
Compared to the actual brutality of life in South Africa, I very much doubt that Malema’s rantings can have any terrifying effect on our farmers. It merely serve to confirm that the phenomenon of farm murders is indeed politically inspired.
It only takes one bully to turn a nation into bullies, note the campus violence at DUT this week.
Hostel students were intimidated and forced to join in. Other students were forcibly ejected from lecture halls and ran for their lives with the mob behind them. And the police behind that, making target practice a little too much like guesswork.
The complaints? Those covered since January: the registration of all students with financial problems; assistance for those with financial difficulties; more beds in the hostels. All were sorted. No student who passes (note the condition) is disadvantaged by being unable to pay fees. The hostel beds are now over the quota.
New issues arising this week, which caused the unruly violence, damaged private and DUT property and terrifed staff and students alike, are: more buses needed to and from the university, the quality and price of food at campus vendors and cafetaria and too few vendors.
I see no reason for any of these to justify what went on there. DUT is already initiating a smart card system to allow students to buy food from reputable off-campus suppliers. My son would dearly love to be able to afford to eat at the cafetaria; he takes a packed lunch daily.
The bus service? Well, we all know that Mike Sutcliffe can’t manage to run an efficient bus service, but no bus that does come into town travels more than one block from DUT. Two blocks away for outgoing buses.
Comeon!