In the movie Pulp Fiction by Quentin Tarantino, Samuel L. Jackson renders with great fervour one of the best-scripted lines in cinema history:
“The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness. For he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.”
Cape Town Mayor Helen Zille has come out swinging after the courts pronounced that the Erasmus Commission appointed by the former Premier of the Western Cape, Ebrahim Rasool, to probe allegations that her administrations illegally spied on renegade councillor Badih Chaaban, was unlawful and unconstitutional.
Like a mad woman after learning of indiscretions of her philandering husband, she unleashed her wrath and promised to strike upon Rasool, Vodacom and Judge Nathan Erasmus with great vengeance and furious anger, as she believes they attempted to destroy her. It appears Zille truly believes that she is beset with on all sides by the iniquities of vindictive conspirators and tyranny of evil renegades of the ANC.
Infuriated and gnashing her teeth (assuming they’re not false), Helen has demanded that the Minister in the Presidency, Kgalema Motlanthe, dismiss Ebrahim Rasool, whom he recently appointed to advise him on his work in Parliament.
Her office released this statement, “As a public servant, Rasool is required by the Constitution to promote and maintain “a high standard of professional ethics”. However, in the light of the Cape High Court judgment, it is clear that he is unfit for any form of public office.
“It is inappropriate for Minister Motlanthe to be advised by someone like Rasool, and if Motlanthe is to become the next president or deputy president of this country — as it is has been suggested in some quarters — it is only right that he demonstrates his probity and suitability for these positions by acting decisively now against the mal-administrators in his midst.”
It is not long ago that the honourable mayor reacted with shock at the firing of Rasool as premier of the Western Cape. She said, “Western Cape premier Ebrahim Rasool’s removal from office is bad for the provincial government and the city of Cape Town, which has to work with the province.”
The fuming mayor further demands that the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) probe Judge Erasmus for misconduct and compromising the integrity of the judicial system for his part in heading the unlawful and unconstitutional commission against her, based on the judgment that, “the involvement of Erasmus J in the commission has unnecessarily involved the judge in the political controversy surrounding the commission, which may damage the confidence of the public in the judiciary’s core function of determining matters in court”.
She further demands that the Public Protector investigate whether the Erasmus Commission constituted an abuse of public funds.
By the time the mayor is finished with her campaign of vengeance, the provincial government may be left with no officials in office. She demands that the police commissioner Mzwandile Petros resign, in light of the fact that he acted illegally when he passed on to Rasool information that the police obtained in a search of the home of private investigator Philip du Toit.
Vodacom handed more than six months’ worth of Zille’s detailed call records to the Erasmus Commission and the angry mayor is considering legal action against the cellphone giant for assisting Rasool “to spy on her.” It appears the mayor is ignorant to the fact that Vodacom responded to a subpoena from what they deemed to be a judicial commission of inquiry and could not have smelled its unlawfulness and unconstitutionality.
Helen Zille is an angry woman and risks epitomising the stereotypes of women as spiteful and senselessly vengeful. She needs to be cognizant of the fact that harbouring resentment is detrimental to physical and mental well-being. At the rate she is going, she risks being locked in the straightjacket.
Forgiveness can bring peace to the soul of the forgiver and the forgiven. The Holy Book requires of us to forgive one another; “for he that forgives not his brother his trespasses stands condemned before the Lord; for he remains in greater sin.”
Former president, Nelson Mandela, said, “We especially should learn to forgive each other because when you intend to forgive, you heal part of the pain, but when you forgive you heal completely. As Africans, we have suffered in terms of slavery and colonialism for a very long time. Forgiveness has remained our best cultural heritage’’
It may be the demands of feminism to unnecessarily appear tough and resolute when holding positions of authority; that the display of “balls” is a requisite trait in all situations however inappropriate. But reason dictates that a person is superior to his/her enemy if (s)he refuses to take revenge; that those who focus on revenge only exacerbate their own suffering.
In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Romeo’s act of revenge against Tybalt arguably set the tragedy in motion. Israel and Palestine is mired in the cycle of violence primarily that neither side is willing to halt its aggression and forget about past incursions in the spirit of rebuilding relations and good neighbourliness.
Helen Zille may be acting in the belief that hers is the right to seek redress in the light of the finding of the courts, but such vengeful action undermines the spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation that informed our democratic dispensation. She should sustain what is our cultural heritage. Continuous frowning at her enemies, for a woman of her maturity, would only exacerbate her facial creases.
An eye for an eye would make the whole world go blind!
To all the black racists who wishful think that the DA is a white party – dream on! NOT according to the stats.
And I do wish you would realise that the majority in the Western Cape is BROWN!
Last night, whilst reading this article, i nearly choked with laughter at the part where Zille demands the removal of Rasool. That was round about the time i stopped reading cause i realised something. For the first time in years, i was actually reading something about Zille and the DA. When i read an article, and it comes to the part where the DA’s opinion is mentioned, i skip that part and look for a more relevant opnion. The DA and Zille is the most irrelevant entity in this country representing a group of black hating whites and their coconut slaves. The only people who bothers to write anything about Zille is white journalists and their coconut slave journalists. Let Zille stomp her tiny little feet and make as if her opinion matters. She will soon lose steam and jump to another irrelevant topic but let the relevant black journalist not waste their time writing about a fly that we accomodate in the name of democracy.
Sentletse
Another day has gone by and you still cannot name ONE politically connected person who has been held properly to account.
Does that not start to tell you something?
Poor Liansky — Zille has you and the rest of your sad ruling regime lickspittles in a flat panic!
AMUSED, you have already mentioned some of those who were held accountable, Zuma, Yengeni, etc.
Come come Sentletse, surely you can do better than that.
Yengeni did indeed serve time, although he was out drinking beer and braaing during his sentence (not really a norm), and then when he broke the specific terms of his parole (curfew and alcohol ban) did he return to prison as is supposed to happen? Would you say it was normal that MP’s and the speaker of parliament carried him on their shoulders as a hero into prison? Does he really pass the test that i first set;
My challenge was this:
“Name me ONE politically connect person who has been held accountable for his/her actions to the generally accepted standards of modern democracy… (ie without being suspended on full pay for years on end, or serving a prison sentence in a cell, and abiding by the conditions of Parole).
Does Yengeni pass this test? I suggest not.
Yengeni, however, pails into insignificance with your rather laughable suggestion that Zuma is an example;
Firstly it is completely inconceivable in any true democracy that Zuma would not have resigned in order to clear his name. Once Shaik was convicted of soliciting bribes on his behalf, and after he still did not resign, he was fired by Mbeki. He has been charged with 14 criminal offences, but as a consequence of that, rather then he resign, the unit that charged him (set up by the ANC) is to be disbanded in retaliation (it is counter-revolutionary), a judge is under investigation for trying to improperly influence hearings in Zuma’s favour, significant elements of the ruling party have openly threatened to make their own country un-governable if Zuma is convicted, and now today, even the ANC has joined the delaying tactics by signifying its intent to launch yet another motion, which has the sole intention of ensuring that Zuma is president before he gets to trial, thus delivering a feit accomplie to the nation.
Is that what you call being held to account?????
The (not very) amused reader rets his case!!!
“…but back to Zille. The executive mayor of Cape Town is no pushover and the media had better accept it. She is hardworking, diligent, uncorrupt, industrious and runs an efficient administration — with all its flaws — unlike her predecessor, whose management of the city was catastrophic.
Is efficiency not what we as citizens want? Is this not what the media should want? Is this not how it should be? When Zille launched her court challenge, many journalists vilified her, including constitutional law professor Pierre de Vos, who should have known better. But Zille knew Rasool’s action was politically inspired and unconstitutional. Rasool should be fired again. Erasmus should appear before the Judicial Service Commission ; provincial police commissioner Mzwandile Petros should follow national police commissioner Jackie Selebi into oblivion.
We need more Helen Zilles, especially at a time when SA is becoming a haven of mediocrity. As a seasoned journalist and constitutional democrat, Zille launched this court challenge to save our country from the excesses of power and the ruling mob.”
# Kadalie is a human rights activist based in Cape Town.
11 September 2008
http://www.businessday.co.za
Zille number for the minority, hmmm thisclearly sounds cool to the majority. I wonder if Helen realises that Zuma has no choice but to deliver the polokwane rsolutions or risk wat happened to Mbeki ten months ago.
It is very clear to the majority why certain people would fear Zuma. Change is coming and there is nothing the critics and minority can do about it. It is time to focus all efforts to the needs and the expectations of the majority for a change and that is how democracy is supposed to work anyway.
Do you realise that it was the same Judge Nicholson who found for Zuma, who also found for Helen Zille and damned both Judge Erasmus and Rasool? Either you accept both judgements, or neither!
And the whole exercise of disbanning the Scorpions was started by the Mbeki camp, NOT the Zuma camp, to protect Jackie Selebi. Zuma’s transgressions are all already on the court and public record – Selebi’s are not!
How can the Mail and Guardian allow such rubbish about Helen Zille to be written on their website when she was the woman that whilst working for this newspaper during appartheid was a political activist against appartheid and was the woman who famously uncovered the truth about Steve Bikos death. I think it is shocking and a really bad image for your newspaper!