By Reuben S. Dlamini
Julius Malema is the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) president. He was born in 1981 in Seshego township, Limpompo province, South Africa. He is renowned for being a controversial public and political figure who is very outspoken on socio-political issues, and living a lavish lifestyle. His salary, which he claims to be making at the ANCYL, and his lavish lifestyle, are not directly proportional. Malema, with his imperial arrogance, like the west he criticizes, has no room in the new democracy.
As he goes around exhorting, "violence, racism and misogynism", Malema should know that South Africa, in its infant democratic stage, cannot afford his utterances. There is no need for him to open unhealed wounds while driving top of the range cars, living in Sandton, and using his political power to obtain lucrative governments contracts for his companies. Malema should stop betraying the confidence and trust of the citizens he pledged to serve, as he recently did in the midst of his birthday celebration, having live music bands, and in which high-profile politicians were served Moet and Chandon champagne. As Henry James called America a “Hotel Civilization,” where lights are on all the time, rooms kept clean, and never see who cleans them, Malema has an obsession of comfort and convenience.
Yes, there is nothing wrong for politicians to be rich, but for Malema being able to afford a $34,000 Breitling watch, two expensive homes, and a black Mercedes-Benz C63, while his official monthly salary is $2, 700, is disturbing. As you can see the numbers do not match in anyway his lavish lifestyle. Malema should not become so cynical that he forgets about the fundamental duty he has as president of the ANCYL to serve and promote issues affecting the young people of South Africa and African youth at large. Malema must be the stalwart of transformative economic policies and stop being complacent about his political power. He should be championing policies on healthcare, education, business ethics, entrepreneurship, women, and youth empowerment.
He is a disgrace to the African National Congress (ANC) because of his utterances on private and public stage, and his controversial remarks undermine the work the ANC has been doing to transform The Republic of South Africa. On May 3, 2010 the Time magazine listed Malema as the worlds “least influential” and among the most “un-influential” figures in 2010. The ANC leadership is not helping the situation by calling Malema the future president of The Republic of South Africa. Encouraging a young up coming politician is a good thing, but he should be held accountable for his hate speeches and the promises he made on land seizure while visiting Zimbabwe.
His access to the business community movers and shakers in South Africa should not make him compromise his sincere commitment to public service. Julius Malema, just like the Mandelas and the Tambos, must use his power to enact positive socio-economic change for the masses in South Africa. As the editor of Time magazine Rick Stengel puts it, service, “is not about the influence of power but rather the power of influence.” According to Earl G. Graves, Sr. of Black Enterprise, service is “an extension of one’s absolute duty to family, church, community, the military, and one’s country.” As Malema claims to be the spokesperson for the marginalized groups economically, he needs to examine his life, as service is about the one who contributes, than the one who receives. With the power and political will that Julius exhibits, he can empower ordinary South African citizens to do extra ordinary things.
Malema needs to perform some self-examination before starting to address other people’s concerns and wishes. It’s imperative that he knows who he is, and what his values and principles are. He needs to honor the core values of those who fought the apartheid regime, and those within the governing party, the ANC, instead of going around undermining its efforts to transform the rainbow nation, and Government of National Unity in Zimbabwe. A “one-dimension man” is not a solution to the challenges facing South Africa and the continent. The concept of a “one-dimensional man” is defined as conforming to existing thought and behavior with no critical dimension to transcend the existing society (Marcuse, 1964). Malema’s ideological manipulations hinder radical social change. With Malema blaming the whites in South Africa he should first check the mirror and ask himself what has he done for the less fortunate citizens of The Republic of South Africa.
25 May 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
Well put Reuben. For every positive step his party has taken to improve the socioeconomic conditions of Africans in the Republic, he has been a step back. These unruly utterances are just a way to remove attention on the issues his party is failing to deal with by continuously blaming others. Julius Malema will be judged on what he has built as a leader for his people and so far he has built nothing.
Much thanks to the author for this rather thought provoking paper .
However I think it’s really important that the author also learn to also not be “one-dimensional” in looking at an issue like this one.
I think it’s important that we act on the known and not the unknown. Personally and as a proud South African youth, I do not see any shame in anything that Julius has done.
The Malema you are talking about is largely a creation of the media – the white dominated liberal media that portrays Malema as the joke of the world, the stupid black man who had bad matric results, who lives in Sandton on a R20 000 salary, etc
Maybe I’m the only one but there is so much WRONG that I see in that!
1.Julius Malema is not a public official – he like any other non-official should not be treated differently to other non public-officials people – they do not have to account anyone but SARS on their finances, and thus he should also have the same treatment.
2.Let’s be honest here! – this in SA is also largely political – Malema is 29, not formally educated and most importantly BLACK – in “(western) white colonial tendencies” (to borrow from Malema)that would equate that to failure and yet here is this 29 year old man with companies , owning expensive cars, properties, and living a lavish lifestyle… and almost automatically that is equated with “imperial arrogance” and corruption… why is it that a black man cannot make it in life outside mainstream academe without being ridiculed and scrutinised? Furthermore what is wrong with owning companies and being in politics – why cannot black people have interests in properties and companies just because they are in the ANCYL? Malema as far as I know has NEVER been proved to have utilised his capacity as the YL president to enhance his companies – so why are we acting on the unknown?
3.You correctly state that indeed when Malema is supposed to bring issues to the fore affecting society – and he has (i.e. nationalisation of the mines - which can have extremely positive results for the nation if properly implemented) and yet both the national and the international media laughed when he proposed this.
4.Lastly (although there are more points I disagree on), the ANCYL is not supposed to do the job of the Government (i.e. the ANC) – That would make the government’s job the ANCYL’s. It’s not right to put the blame on Julius to fix the problems of the less fortunate – his job is to push the government to do that – and I think he has been very effective in doing that.
Let’s not be one sided about this issue. It is important to question the sources of our information (newspapers/ websites /academics, etc) that write about “Malema” for the Malema you are talking about is a creation of the media – white liberal SA/international media (like Time) – the media that refuses to believe that a black man can make something of himself without a university degree, the same media house that not so long ago perpetuated apartheid policies and refused to tell stories about blacks unless they were convicted of crimes, etc.
Let’s not as young African intellectuals/commentators/writers be quick to deflate BLACK people merely on what the media writes. Let’s act on the known. We do NOT know that Malema is using lucrative government contracts for his companies – so let’s not say so until it is proven.
Malema only became the ANCYL president in 2008 – why is it assumed that he could not have had the capacity to acquire wealth before that?
Lets focus on the plausibility of what Malema is saying (i.e. land reform, nationalisation of mined, racism, unequal distribution of wealth in South Africa) and lets attack those. Lets not deflate his contentions simply because he makes whites/black middle upper class useasy!
Also one last thing:
Personally I think it would be insensitive for him to flaunt his wealth (which I do not think he is doing - just that the media focuses on him).
But surely he does not have a part every weekend. Why does the media not follow Hellen Zille and question how much the botox costs? The properties she owns? Does she shame "African women" by undergoing the procedure?
from Thusego Mmolawa
BRAVO to Gcobani Qambela....(you should have written this)
To the writer...you are the one who is one dimensional.
You wrote i quote "its imperative Malema knows who he is"...I personally think Malema knows exactly who he is.What he need is Africans to back him up,not chant the same song as the imperialists.
So are you saying Malema hasn't contributed anything positive to this "new"democracy.
Well this is not to say Malema has not contributed anything to the new democracy...it is the way sometimes he behave acting like he is not touchable not accountable to the ANC and the ANCYL. As mentioned on the article there is nothing wrong for our politicians to get rich but is the way they go about it and their arrogance especially Julius. You might say I am one-dimensional, but you are just as one-dimension maybe as I am. With all due respect to you guys if the Malema addressed in the article is created by the media then this could be a teaching moment for you to counter what is being reported.
A well written article but well I may agree with the guys above. I'm not sure whether you wanted to attack Malema in this article or you wanted to write something so that we may discuss further. Yes, it is true that the media in SA is controlled by the minority and they are the one driving the economy etc....and it is true that all the points that Malema he raises are legitimate, they are really affecting the ordinary SA.
However, Politics are rough game. I'm yet to see a Sport like Politics. You need to tread carefully. Mugabe, a seasoned Politician didn't tread carefully, look where Zim is today? What about his Legacy? Now, what I'm trying to say is, Malema should learn on how to speak in public. He must say anything that comes to his head anytime, he must have "manners". He must respect the next person, and all these things. He will be a good example of a black diamond as he claims to be.
Otherwise, I don't care about his wealth and I don't even care on how he accumulated that wealth. Everyone steals,deal, etc ..who cares, just because it is Malema? Who was suppose to get those tenders anyways if he indeed benefited from those tenders as the media claim.
Well put Mthombeni but two things does not make it right. Just because everybody steals and deals does not justify way of life. It is important for our politicians to remember the men and women on the streets waking up every morning to make things happen for the families. Malema to me is a public figure but he has become "too big for his bridges." Sometimes diplomacy works in addressing issues of national importance. My beloved brother Julius just open his mouth without thinking about the consequences of his remarks. We definitely need Africans who will stand against the western imperialist but we must have a formula that will transform our nations especially the rainbow nation. Lets not be short-sighted about some of the damages the young man have caused to the healing nation from the brutal apartheid system.
Post a Comment