ANC must shoulder the blame

ANC leaders should be careful about which words to utter during a difficult period and admit its own mistakes led to its demise.

The statement by ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe that blacks withhold their votes while whites voted for change is illadvised. It amounted to suggesting blacks have an obligation to protect the ANC, and not be part of those who need change.

Black people have no obligations to display blind loyalty to any party and Mantashe’s remark undermines their intelligence. It sends a wrong message that they can’t think properly and there is no need for them to demand change.

The ANC is ageing and the sooner it comes out from denialism the better. The growing of technology makes it easier for the society, particularly the youth, to understand the current state of the country.

The preliminary elections outcome reflects that people are not blind loyalists to a corrupt administration. The ANC’s old tactic of using racial division and historical content to divide society has faded in popularity. People, whether blacks or whites, can’t be blackmailed to believe that power balance is healthy in a democratic society.

The ANC understands its problems and should stop blaming anyone for its own mess. It decided to keep its president to avoid tearing apart the party, so people showed it could keep him and his associates, while they were hiring new faces in government.

The humiliation of the ANC in metros is an early indicator of what it should expect in the 2019 general elections. Either it continues in the footsteps of “Premier League”, a clique of conservatives, or it reforms.

With the growing of urbanisation and disapproval of regionalism politics that impose untalented politicians in government, the ANC is heading towards Zanu-PF style politics. The voting patterns in metros and local municipalities revealed that the ANC is now a brand for rural people, while those who are closer to the modern world prefer other parties. PHASWANA ROFHIWA Thohoyandou

This is a big league change shocker!

THE results of the municipal elections not only blew the door wide open, they blew it off the hinges, with the ANC suffering humiliation at the polls.

While society is abuzz with the jawing of politicians and industry influence peddlars, thank you for allowing me, the ordinary man, to comment.

Bigwigs like Cyril Ramaphosa and Gwede Mantashe seem unfazed as they skilfully try to weave some thread of stability into the turbulence of emotions. The ANC always envisaged itself as unsinkable. Now it is floundering, running astray of its moorings.

It boasted a tradition with the enviable record of never backing a loser, nor did it support failure. This week the godfather of liberation movements was cut down to size as another family, the DA, has taken over huge chunks of turf. The DA came out guns loaded and blazing, annexing critical metros; a noteworthy achievement.

Even though the IEC has blown the final whistle on a free and fair election, the goalposts have shifted considerably, vastly altering the playing fields. As multiparty democracy is no more a dot on the horizon, lobbying to form coalition governments has begun in earnest.

As we face coalition conundrums, sine qua non politics will become the order of the day, while favour-currying will become standard operating procedure. Enter Julius Malema, EFF boss-man, now enthroned as “kingmaker”.

The ANC has played straight into his hands, as his increased whiff of radicalism and rascality has reached new heights. He holds the trump card in anticipated deals and he knows it!

This is a big league change, a shocker for the ANC! This is no scaffolding on an unaltered edifice. The ANC must have seen it coming, and if they are showing otherwise, then they deserve an Oscar for acting. As the relentless proselytising of invaders attacks them, there is no place to hide.

They have to account to the hoi polloi for their failure. It is their culture to regroup behind closed doors and conduct an introspective hypothesis.

A Swot (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis should be high on the agenda. KEVIN GOVENDER Shallcross

No place for EFF to play hardball

SO WE have finally entered the era of potential coalition politics in SA?

I commend the EFF for stating up front they will not collude with the ANC, as Malema tried this once and was expelled.

Then they went on to say they would only jointly govern with the DA if their radical transformation economic policies were adopted!

They must have known this was impossible for the truly democratic, non-racial DA, but had to initiate a public sucker punch before they were blamed for not being serious about coalitions.

The DA is neither left nor right wing, it is purely central, and the EFF is extremely left wing, but did not manage to triple its voter support as it had hoped.

The EFF is so far left wing, not even Isis would consider it for a coalition, as they would never recover their reputation. As the EFF has not secured a single ward, it really has no place to play coalition hardball with any party that did! ROBERT NICOLAI Howick

Thank you for helping one in need

A VERY big thank you to all those who helped my friend when she fell on the uneven pavement in Musgrave Road, outside Caister Lodge, on Sunday, July 31, before 10am. People coming out or going to church not only gave the senior citizen tissues to stem the pouring blood, but ran to the Caister Clinic and fetched two sisters and a wheelchair.

The lady was taken to hospital afterwards and had six stitches in her chin and also a stitch inside her mouth for the broken blood vessel, and has asked me to thank you all and say she is getting along fine. CYNTHIA JONES Durban

Is fugitive an inspirational figure?

THAT Czech fugitive Radovan Krejcir has enjoyed unfettered freedom to pursue his nefarious activities leaves me wondering whether he is perhaps regarded as an inspirational figure by some of our leaders.

Be that as it may, extradition proceedings are under way, which will hopefully see him returned to his native land ere long.

And it is in this regard that the beleaguered SA Post Office might have the opportunity to redeem itself in the eyes of the public by the simple expedient of undertaking the delivery, in a suitably constructed container, of course.

Given the fantastical escape plots reported in the media, secrecy will be of paramount importance and the “package” might be simply labelled: “One Balkan bandit – well worn.”

And on dispatch, authorities in the receiving country may be alerted by means of a brief and cryptic message relayed over the telephone: “The Czech is in the post.” JOHN GARDENER Howick