In what could be a genuine job action the situation has been hijacked and manipulated by politicians who are trying to play saint and take advantage of the poor? Protests by mine workers in South Africa have given a new lease of life to the country’s political spent forces such as the former ANC Youth league leader. The expelled African National Congress Youth League leader Julius Malema has been addressing striking miners, urging them to go on work stoppages so that the government can hear their demands. The former youth leader has been on record calling for the nationalization of mines in South Africa. After getting the boot from the youth league Malema has been working tirelessly to destabilize the government of President Jacob Zuma.  Recently he addressed a group of soldiers in move that can be deemed to be treasonous acts in other countries. One wonders whether the South African constitution allows any civilian to be called in to listen to armed forces’ grievances and comment on the government. Or maybe Malema and the soldiers were just exercising their right to freedom of expression and assembly as enshrined in the constitution. The precedent set by Malema when he addressed soldiers set alarm bells on the need for security sector reforms on the African continent.

Dodged by controversy throughout his political career, Malema was quoted in the press in 2008 saying, “”We are prepared to take up arms and kill for Zuma.” But in a turn of events it seems like he is now plotting to use the arms against a democratically elected government. This should be seen as an example to young people to be wary of politicians who would use them to perpetuate violent acts for personal gain.

This entry was posted on September 14th, 2012 at 12:45 pm by Lenard Kamwendo and is filed under Economy, Governance, Reflections, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.