The Citizen (KZN)

Bullyboy shoutout to Bheki Cele

- Dirk Lotriet

This week, I was left with an overwhelmi­ng feeling of gratitude after our parents’ meeting with four-year-old Egg’s nursery school staff. She’s blessed with a brilliant teacher who is dedicated to her calling.

The eye-opener was Teacher Judy’s approach to bullies.

“I tell them to shout the bully’s name as loudly as possible,” she said. Then she acts to protect the victim and against the bully.

I’m afraid not all teachers have the same integrity. Just take our Police Minister Bheki Cele. He holds a diploma which qualifies him as a pre-school teacher. But he protects the bullies.

Yesterday, I came across dozens of videos depicting shocking examples of police brutality. Police officers sjambokkin­g members of the public, boxes of liquor being offloaded from a police van, metro police kicking people with disabiliti­es out of wheelchair­s, officers kicking women...

Cyril Ramaphosa, when are you going to stop preaching to the choir about hand-washing and call on Cele to explain the current pandemic of brutality.

People have been killed by the supposed guardians of law and order. Shops have been looted, bribes have changed hands, people have been assaulted while the police minister patrols the beaches to protect us from surfers.

Today I shout the name of the bully, and I expect you to react, sir. BHEKI CELE.

If your predecesso­r could suspend him as police commission­er (damn, imagine being suspended for suspected corruption by Jacob Zuma), you have no excuse to turn a blind eye to this pandemic.

Presidents are remembered for the mistakes they make.

Donald Trump, despite his economic and employment achievemen­ts, will be remembered as a self-obsessed misogynist and a climate change denialist.

Thabo Mbeki won’t be remembered for the brilliant way he managed the economy, but because he let 300 000 people die needlessly of Aids.

Zuma won’t be remembered for his Aids policy reforms, because he’s the state capture dude.

As things stand, sir, history will brand you as the man who turned a blind eye to the disappeara­nce of R500 billion and who couldn’t secure Covid-19 vaccines, but gave us an extra-strength dose of brutality.

And frankly, you deserve better. We all do.

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