So Julius Malema has been voted in for another term as leader of the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL), does this mean anything to our country?
Traditionally the ANCYL has produced leaders of incredible calibre that have gone on to change this country (think Anton Lembede, Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisula, Oliver Tambo etc). However, while they were in the Youth League they had very little say in the running of the ANC main body. The impotence of the Youth League has not changed much to this day. The Youth League is a place for people to rant and rave but not get much done. The latest Youth League conference was no different.
This weekend Malema waxed lyrical about taking land, banks and mines and returning them to the people. Today, the ANC came out and said that the ANCYL has no power to change ANC policy and that they have no intention of making the changes the Malema was demanding.
Why then does this upstart get so much media attention? Every 30 minutes there was a news update on the goings-on at the conference. To my mind this is what Malema wants. He spews out ridiculous statements knowing very well they have no power for actual change, but the media gobbles it up like it is manna from heaven. He loves the attention and the media gives it to him.
We need to realise that the ANC does not to its own Youth League seriously, so neither should we.
Media sensationalism, scaremongering, etc. While I don't support a media tribunal, I do think our media does need a bit of a wake-up call.
ReplyDeleteIf the ANCYL is the breeding ground for leaders of change - which the trend suggests, the concern with Malema is not what he does now but later when he becomes that leader of change... Pol Pot was a leader of change, same goes for Hitler
ReplyDeleteAn easily imagined analogy would be an undisciplined and untrainable child, throwing tantrum after tantrum.. He cant hurt anyone where he is now, in kindergarden (ANCYL), with only soft toys at his disposal but what about when he leaves kindergarden with the same mentality but different toys...? I would like to believe that his lack of integrity and complete disregard of the principles his predecessors fought for would push him out of the system like an unwelcome'd thorn stuck under the skin - but what is he doing in the same seat Mandela once had? who keeps voting him in and why?
I agree that the media is fuel for Malema's madness. I read an article written by sunday times that highlights the point "To my mind this is what Malema wants.". The article states:
ReplyDelete"It is the media that still gives Malema's statements front page spots to put fear in the minds of South Africans. It is clear then that it is the media more than the people that Malema has on puppet strings."
The media is building tension, amongst us South Africans, around the chance that Malema is actually going to influence governmential decisions or eventually gain power of his own.
And yet, what if he does gain power in our country? Leaders only need followers to have power. I am currently under the impression that South Africans aren't that hard to manipulate with a well placed false promise, and let him hit the nail on the head... then what?
Consider this quote from the same article:
"The media and these Afrikaner groups forget that you can only discredit and degrade someone who is protecting a certain dignity and decorum, not someone like Malema. He has nothing to lose."
Malema obviously has a goal in his mind and for a man of his background to get to his current position, I wouldn't put it past me to see him leading our country astray in the future.
I believe Malema has leadership potential though not for the good of our country. I also believe he shouldn't be taken lightly as this may end up being a fatal mistake, only to be admitted when he has thousands of followers behind him.