Political Education, Live

Karima Brown does a nice job of exposing the bullying tactics of ANC spokesperson Tiyani Rikhotso. See the first link below, and also Renée Bonorchis’ article if you have not already done so, published in the same Business Day on 6 December and carried by the CU the following day. Read Rikhotso’s ugly, intimidating SMS to Amy Musgrave, verbatim in Brown’s report. This is the real gender struggle, as opposed to the declaratory, formal, “50-50” one. That other struggle, as Zwelinzima Vavi rightly said, is more often really about “other things”, though probably not about “womanising”, as he thinks. In fact, the less said about womanising by the Zuma camp, the better it will be for them.

Will the days of bullying be gone in a few days? Probably not. The struggle will continue.

From the same page in yesterday’s Business Day, the next item is by the brave but politically liberal journalist Jonny Steinberg. He concludes we need another 1976. A 1976 of the soul, perhaps? The only way something like that is going to happen is by political education of a voluntary kind; and indeed, it is happening. We wish that Steinberg, a white who hangs out with blacks and listens well to those he talks to, could also spend time with the YCL, ANCYL, SASCO and COSAS and other youth formations. Because, as much as his article appeals for a new “1976”, it is a mythical, conservative, and not a revolutionary movement that Steinberg craves. He, too, needs political education.

Mo Shaik’s arrogant outburst in the Mail and Guardian blew up in his face. Not so much because of Trevor Manuel’s even more insufferably pompous reply. More because nobody in the “Zuma Camp” fancies being lower on the new pecking order than Mo, the swaggering chancer. Each one is going to bang him on his bald head now until he is hammered right down to the bottom. See the third item.

"When history eventually deals with the dictators, those who stood by and watched the deterioration of nations should bear the consequences," says Jacob Zuma, quoted by Wendy Jasson da Costa in the fourth item below. Quite so.

This was going to be a shorter edition, suiting the season, but two late items came in and the Communist University never wants to refuse to promote new writing. This is a critique by Karl Cloete of the article by Zamikhaya Maseti that was published in The Star yesterday. Both Karl Cloete’s response and Maseti’s article are linked, below. Comrade Karl is a well-known working-class cadre from the Western Cape. To highlight his article, we will use a picture of the late Chris Hani today.

Who is Maseti? He is being paraded as an “independent analyst” but is actually a partisan for the Mbeki camp. Maseti appears on radio in slots that would formerly have been occupied by the Matshiqis, the Mangcus and the Friedmans. The latter are not singing the song that the masters of the SABC want to hear any more. Will the SABC be forced to reform after Polokwane? We hope so. Wouldn’t it be nice to see John Perlman back on the public broadcaster? And Snuki Zikalala eating sour grapes with the losers? Happy Christmas, every one!

Comrades, the Polokwane fires are long since lit, and burning well. The bourgeois mass media are doing a relatively good job at the moment. The Communist University is going to try once again to scale back, unless there is some huge eruption. It will not disappear altogether, but rather it will become a low-intensity operation for the duration of the festivities. We encourage others to do likewise.

Click on these links:

Ugly message in ANC slide towards Polokwane, Brown, B Day (703 words)

Why SA needs to rekindle 1976, Jonny Steinberg, B Day (1123 words)

Zuma camp condemns Mo, Mthembu, de Boer, de Lange, The Star (509 words)

Zuma blasts Mbeki, Wendy Jasson da Costa, The Star (560 words)

Response to Zamikhaya Maseti, by Karl Cloete (1254 words)

It is not about individuals, Zamikhaya Maseti, The Star (1522 words)