Hollywood Good

Dear Mr Julius “Motormouth” Malema

At the thought of writing to you, I find myself feeling guilty that I may be dignifying your existence in the South African political landscape. I have often dismissed your utterances with the famous English idiom that says “Empty vessels make most noise”; if you visit your grade four English studies you should be able to find what I am talking about. However in light of what has transpired in our country and in Zimbabwe over the weekend I am left with out choice but to write to you.

Stupidity and obsession with power have a tendency of creating heroes out of people one does not know where they were found to even begin with. I may be too late to warn you against this, but allow me to address the challenges that you pose not only for yourself but for the youth of this country and the global image of South Africa alike. One political scholar defines politics as “thought controlled” and this is done through the media. I must applaud you for having known how to shoot off your mouth in order to get the attention of the media. Instead of ignoring you, the media made a good job of carving a somebody out of you and your disdainful tendencies though I, along with many other South African youth, believe that you were never worthy of the spotlight in the first place. After having noticed the kind of media attention that comes with phrases such as “We will kill for Zuma”, you then became lustful over the attention of the media and now you have become in indescribable post infatuation with it.

I want to make it very clear to you that we as the youth of this country have deliberately ignored your diatribe that seeks to polarize our country, however Edmund Burke is said to have once said, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." I believe that now is the moment we acted and informed you that the majority of your political prominence defies logic even to those who are in kindergarten politics. In light of you recently; accusing journalists of receiving brown envelopes, singing “dubul’ ibhunu” and you appearing in a Zanu-PF youth rally receiving a hero’s welcome and scheduled to meet Robert “Mad Bob” Mugabe, I would be allowing evil to prevail while I sit in sombrely silence. I give unto you all the contempt you deserve for your recent acts.

As a leader of the Young Lions, I believe you took this in its literal sense. Lions are very scary animals and they tear right through human skull and would kill human beings in an instance, let me inform you that many people fear you in such a manner that you are as dangerous or even worse than a lion. The reference to Young Lions was about bravery, resilience and agility required of any young leader in our society. Indeed you have all this descriptive of a lion and it has been channelled (deliberately I believe) to the wrong direction and this is the danger you have caused to yourself and our country in general. Let me air it out to you that you have inspired the wrong activism amongst already vulnerable and anger filled youths of this country. Instead of being a sober politician that provides distinct leadership, you have often shot off the hip. In his recent judgement on a case pertaining to hate speech against you, Magistrate Colleen Collis said “Mr Malema, being a man of vast political influence, be wary of turning into a man that often speaks but never talks.” If these words are anything to go by, I have never heard you talk even when you try to, you make a good job of marring it with controversy, you are nothing but a machine that was design and set from its existence on self destruct mode.

In 1994 you were 13 years old and that was the eve of democracy in our country, but your obsession to preserve history (that you lack thorough understanding of) relevant to years way before your time boggles my mind. Are you a racist? Are you disrespectful? Do you have a desire to kill someone or rather have you ever killed anyone given your Obsessive Compulsive disorder when it comes to killing? Do you ever think through anything that you say? The chances are that you will answer yes to all these questions, to no surprise to me. Respectable men and women in our society have received your wrath, such as; Helen Zille, Patricia de Lille, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, Thabo Mbeki, FW De Klerk, Mbhazima Shilowa, Jeremy Cronin, Naledi Pandor etc. It seems as if you have a hit list and are doing a good job of shooting down people whose legacies will speak for them no matter how hard you try to bring them down, while you on the other hand will be most likely remembered as the biggest mistake to ever hit the political world.

You see, as a human species we love to be prominent, generally, others more than others. Adolf Hitler is still a name recited daily and brings pain even on this day amongst the Jewish community, but you know what he achieved his goal of being famous. You are doing a very good job of following the notion that, “no publicity is bad publicity” and really that is all you have been enjoying. Don’t you think it is time you changed focus? Unless you are incapable of being an exemplary leader, embodying good governance principles, coupled with morals and ethics. Maybe by the mention of such values and practices expected of a leader I have already lost you, if indeed I have, forgive my ambitions of giving you a second chance out of the many second chances you have enjoyed till this day.

Your buffoonery acts have gained you a status equivalent to that of a state president, well that is the only thing that can explain you being graced with the opportunity of meeting Mugabe. Let me hasten to inform you that the Zimbabwean crisis is a humanitarian crisis and any act of political siding and lauding is despicable and highly mischievous on your part. For you to threaten that you will import Mugabe’s policies that render an economy dysfunctional pays testimony that you never even took Business Economics seriously in grade eight as much as you did not take Woodwork seriously in matric. People have died as a result of Mugabe’s rule and people continue to suffer and die in Zimbabwe, scores are exiled here in South Africa you see them everyday when going to Luthuli House and you still go on to endorse Mugabe’s rule. I cannot be found silent on that along with many other leaders. I can safely conclude that you suffer from verbal diarrhoea and it is causing a polarization delicacy in every single fragment of our society even to the international community. Because your articulations are so narrow or rather hollow on substance they ring so loud that they reach the boarders of investors and they leave a chilling effect on them. It cannot be that you must mess up and expect someone to clean up after you all the time.

I would love to hear a reconciliatory tone from you after the passing away of Eugene Terre Blanche, instead of you saying that “I do not comment about such people.” The people who killed him in disgusting cold blood, even to me as a black that Eugene had no much regard for, will never admit that your “Dubul’ ibhunu” song propelled them to do such. However reality is such that what those in power say has an effect on their constituencies otherwise they wouldn’t say such things. Your desire to have mines nationalise and land reform accelerated is starting to cost lives. Thanks to you we are now with a beckoning bloody period in our country.

The saying that “Black is beautiful” resonates with me, but you are doing a good job of making Black ugly without help. The media might have made you into this monster but the youth of this country will stand in opposition to your portraying of a distasteful image about the youth of South Africa. I ask of you to do the right thing, stop singing that silly-racially charged song and start being a leader. It is never too late, you like a cat with nine lives, this maybe your ninth chance to do things right.

Yours in pursuit of happiness

Lukhona Mnguni (killpovertysa@yahoo.com)
COPE Youth Movement KZN- Provincial Head of Communications (In his personal Capacity)

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