Racism rears its ugly head during local government election campaigns

By Marimuthu Subramoney
(aka Subry Govender)

The local government elections held on Wednesday, May 18 was one of the most hotly-contested elections since 1994.
The political parties and the candidates went overboard in their campaigns to out do one another. During this process, some of the politicians used the lowest and basest rhetoric to smear their opponents.
The president of the ANC Youth League, Julius Malema, won gold medal for his "Malema says" when he travelled around the country, spitting and shouting at his opponents. His first stop was in Cape Town where he used the open-toilet saga in Khayelitsha to lampoon the DA for violating the human dignity of "African people".
The DA-controlled Cape Town city council was found to have built 51 toilets without enclosures in Makhaza, Khayelitsha in December 2009.
During his Cape Town electioneering campaign, Malema, his bodyguards and supporters drove to the house of the leader of DA, Ms Helen Zille, where they pasted ANC posters on an electricity pole just outside Zille's house. When asked by a reporter why he was putting up posters outside the home of Ms Zille, he responded by saying that the DA leader should also vote for the ANC because the DA would never rule South Africa.
But while enjoying the agony in which the DA found itself, Malema had to quickly dash to Rammulotsi township, near Viljoenskroon in the Free State province where it was found that ANC-run Moqhaka municipality had built 1 600 toilets without any enclosures. What was even more embarrassing was that the Mayor, Mantebu Mokgosi's husband had been granted a contract to build the open toilets. They were called "toiletpreneurs".
All that the fazed motor mouth could do was to call for "heads to roll.

CRIMINALS

Despite being brought down to earth, the foul mouth continued with his ramblings at an election rally in Kimberley where he labelled white people as "criminals".
This is what he had said: "We have to take the land without payment, because the whites took our land without paying and transformed them into game farms. The system of willing seller, willing buyer has failed.
We all agree they stole the land. They are criminals, they should be treated like that. It is taking too long for the land to be handed back.
"The money is in the hands of only 10 percent of the population who are handling about 90 percent of the wealth in the country. The money is in the hands of the Oppenheimers. The Oppenheimers took our minerals. Galeshewe hasn’t shared in the bounty of the diamond mines."
At another election campaign meeting in Kimberley, scolded township residents for protesting against the ANC when it was the ANC that provided them with jobs, schools, homes, electricity and water.
"You cannot complain about the lack of service delivery while watering the lawn in front of your RDP house. When protesting they burn tyres on a tar road but they complain no delivery."
In one of his several visits to KwaZulu-Natal, the "Mugabe of South Africa" took swipes at the leader of the IFP, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, calling him a "sickly old man" who don't want to retire. However, he did not have the courage to travel to hometown in Zululand to put up ANC posters outside Buthelezi's home. IFP supporters wanted to teach him "some manners".
"MADAM"
At the ANC's final and biggest election rally in Johannesburg, Malema received the loudest applause when he once again danced and shouted his racist comments.
He said: "The DA is for the whites, it is not for you. The ANC has no serious challenger in the coming elections. Even 'the madam' knows that she cannot compete with the ANC."
This was an obvious reference to Helen Zille's vigorous campaigns in Soweto and mainly-black townships around the country.
Malema has himself been called all kinds of names by his opponents and political analysts. One of the most telling comments came from cartoonist, Nanda Soobben. He said: "We need a toilet duck to clean Malema's mouth... unfortunately, we have a 'lame' one."

"BLUE WITCHES"
A former leader of the ANC Youth League, Fikile Mbalula, also raised the attention of people when he addressed an election rally in Kimberley last week. Referring to the women leaders of the DA, he said: "They are three little blue witches."
The leader of the ANC, Jacob Zuma, also drew the attention of the people when he told supporters at two meetings in Port Elizabeth and Lichtenburg that their ancestors will turn against those leaving the ANC.
"The ancestors will turn their backs against you and you will be bad luck forever if you leave the ANC unhappy. "When you vote for a party that is going to lose, then your vote is wasted. That vote does not help South Africa at all."
Zuma's latest comments had drawn sharp reactions from traditional and religious leaders, who previously had condemned the ANC leader for saying that "the ANC will rule until Jesus returns".
Said one commentator: "I think the ancestors are turning in their graves at the liberties JZ is taking. He now speaks for me, the other voters, Jesus, God, the ancestors, who else only the all powerful Swami Zuma knows."
The election campaigns have done wonders for the country. Freedom of speech and multi-party democracy have been strengthened while at the same time exposing the racism of the "Mugabe" who will turn our beautiful country into another Zimbabwe if he is not brought to heel soon. - Subry Govender, Chief Editor