Maine an insult to ANCYL

WHEN one thinks of Forrest Gump’s declaration “stupid is as stupid does”, the ANC Youth League leader Collen Maine springs to mind.

Maine’s claim that Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and his predecessor Trevor Manuel have been captured by the capitalist class, when we all live in a capitalist society, is as sensible as claiming that you and I have been captured by gravity.

It is a shame that such puerile outbursts capture any media attention. It is also a sad commentary on the intelligence of those who catapult the likes of Maine well beyond their levels of competence.

The positioning of pliant cadres in formerly respected positions – the ANCYL leadership was once occupied by such respected persons as Anton Lembede and Nelson Mandela – has reduced a once useful structure to little more than a kindergarten of the immature.

The league’s founding members, including Oliver Tambo and Walter Sisulu, must be turning in their graves at the inane antics of the present incumbent.

It is sad that the loud populist noises of so many empty cans, from Number One down, get any traction. It is also sad evidence of the state of economic literacy that people do not care about the possibility of South Africa’s international economic rating falling to junk status.

When the tide goes out, all ships fall and, in this case, the poor will suffer more than the rich capitalists. Why? Because the rich know how to protect themselves against economic downturns while the poor have no clue. — Bill Gould, Southernwood