Politics is a dirty business. As much as we would like to think that the people presented to us are the best leaders for the country this is most often not the case.
In modern politics there are so many people to please and quite simply, it is impossible to please everyone. As a result, the person who has the ability to 'play the field', so to speak, is the one who wins. These people have mastered the art of manipulation and deceit. They know when to cause a storm, and when to disappear in the storm. They know how to change allegiance at the right time and when to appear entirely devoted to a life-long cause.
Since his short time in the political arena Julius Malema has proved that he is, by far, the best politician that we have. He has swung like a pendulum, turned his cloak, lied, cheated (and some say stolen) for years, but is at the forefront of the political landscape.
His current trial is a case in point: he is on trial for bringing the ANC into disrepute and for breaking the rules of the party. However, through some masterful political strokes, he has taken himself well out the lime light. First he delayed the trial by storing up violence outside the hearing, then he delayed by appealing to the constitution of the ANC, then he questioned the legality of the charges, and finally he missed his hearing due to illness. All this has served to quieten the storm around him and remove the negative emotion from his trial. It appears as if we will only hear the verdict during November.
He may not be a great example of the kind of leader that we want but the above information serves to confirm that Julius Malema is the most astute politician in the land.
