The Malema dilemma
JULIUS Malema is in a fight with the SA Revenue Service (Sars) for his political life. He is committed to avoiding a final sequestration court order to ensure his parliamentary seat remains intact, as well as his political career.
Malema must be aware the latest round of litigation with Sars may be ringing the bell of bad tidings.
In a telling move to extricate himself from the pending morass, he has proffered a defence of selective prosecution done in bad faith by his former ANC comrades. In an attempt to bolster his case, Malema has revealed what appears to be a partial disclosure of anonymous and secretive “gifts” to him, the president and ANC leaders.
The revelations are presumably intended, as in previous instances, to heighten the prospect that the Sars case will in time evanesce into obscurity. If not, one can hypothesise a further campaign of disclosures, but this time, one should assume, supported by corroboration of corruption and wrongdoing. This, Malema calculates, the ANC will want to avoid under any circumstances. However, hemay have miscalculated inasmuch as the ANC will not likely forego the opportunity, through Sars, to orchestrate Malema’s political downfall, which should outweigh any damaging disclosures. What more could come to light that hasn’t already surfaced? The ANC will have removed a thorn from its side.
In his opposing affidavit, Malema reveals details of monies he received, and allegedly also received by the president, from anonymous donors, to support and maintain their lavish lifestyles. But, Malema hastens to add, the gifts “were not made to get anything in return”. He is asserting that political influence was not a quid pro quo.
Given the culture of corruption that continues unabated, Malema’s disavowal must be dismissed with the contempt it deserves. Trough feeding is one thing, but to maintain the absence of conditions precedent to trough feeding is incredulous. To believe that a fact finder would find otherwise is incredulous. Malema is between a rock and a hard place – and one would guess he knows it.
Inferences can be drawn from his strategy. One, however, seems to trump all others: Malema’s demise is no longer a remote possibility but rather a probability. He has gamed, undermined and subverted the political system far too long. His removal from the political arena will facilitate a significant leap to restoring much-needed integrity to the country’s political system, an essential component for good governance. In the words of the fictional character, Jean Luc Pickard, “make it happen”. Errol Horwitz
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