The Citizen (Gauteng)

Empty heads must roll

- Cliff Buchler

To escape those nauseating TV funeral, insurance and attorney adverts, I allow two minutes before switching on for news on the hour. It works well. Except a recent case when what I thought was an advert for a latest movie on circuit, was still playing out. It depicted a riot reminiscen­t of the French Revolution when the public witnessed the action of Madame la Guillotine against the aristocrac­y. I expected to see tumbrils appearing, carrying its cargo of decapitate­d heads. It must be a scene from Charles Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities?

Until the camera zoomed to the faces of the rioters wearing ANC T-shirts.

Unlike the Froggies’ riot that took place in a public place, this mobster meddling happened in the sanctity of a municipal council meeting in eThekwini voting for a mayor. Chairs were upended as the mob descended on the lone speaker cowering behind his microphone. One hooligan brazenly grabbed a mic off the main table.

An ugly scene, but one we’ve come to expect from the ruffian element. As it is, together with the Ego-Fed Failures, these louts turn parliament­ary sessions into brawls. So, it should come as no surprise to witness the same hooliganis­m in Durbs. This is the modus operandi of a failed party. Empty-headed Zuma supporters. How else to describe their uncivilise­d actions?

And if allowed to continue, our municipali­ties, instead of addressing poor service delivery, will sink even lower into the garbage. As parties they’ve lost out this time round and know of only one way to react: disrupt.

A good start would be to bring suspected criminals hiding in both parties to book. Talk about a book. How about a Dickensian sequel, “A Tale of Two Tits”?

These disrupters keep cocking a snook at law enforcemen­t and the judiciary. They make unsustaina­ble promises to the gullible. They belong behind bars, not on public platforms from which they enjoy on-going media coverage.

It was, therefore, welcome relief getting back to the TV news reader, despite another insurance advert promising a bright financial future. But it’s probably clever marketing, given the glum mood left after viewing the eThekwini fracas and that our municipali­ties are in for a rough ride.

Bring back the tumbrils, I say.

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