Public betrayed by immoral NEC
THIS letter could be a tad abusive – for which I make no apologies – because we, the people you serve, are tired of being abused by you, the “leadership”.
When Jacob Zuma goes to jail, the majority of you will be joining him for aiding and abetting a criminal. When your grandchildren grow up and you tell them you were a member of the NEC, they will remind you, dear grandparent, that you were, in fact, merely a complicit observer while the country was led by the Guptas, the Russians and a gang of thieves, unearthed of late by investigative journalist Jacques Pauw.
Should any of you claim that you are not complicit, what is it that you have done or said in the last eight years for us to believe otherwise?
There is a brave and honourable man by the name of Republican Senator Jeff Flake, from Arizona, who gave an awesome speech on CNN last week in which he denigrated his dishonourable president (Donald Trump) for tarnishing American values and principles that respectable Americans hold dear. Values and principles you say? Foreign words indeed! And of course, mixing as you do with thieves and rabble, few of you will relate to what Flake said, but I take the liberty here of quoting at random some of his wise words which might put you to shame, if you had any.
“Let me begin by noting that these offices that we hold are not ours to hold indefinitely. We are not here simply to mark time. And there are times when we must risk our careers in favour of our principles. I rise today with no small measure of regret, regret because of the indecency of our discourse, because of the coarseness of our leadership, regret for the compromise of our moral authority and by our complicity in this dangerous state of affairs.
“We must stop pretending that the degradation of our politics and the conduct of some in the executive branch are normal. They are not normal. And when such behaviour emanates from the top of our government, it is dangerous to democracy. Such behaviour does not project strength – because our strength comes from our values. It instead projects a corruption of the spirit, and weakness.
“When the next generation asks us, why didn’t you do something? Why didn’t you speak up? What are we going to say? I have children and grandchildren, Mr President. I will not be complicit.
“If I have been critical of the president it is because I believe that it is my obligation to do so, as a matter of duty and conscience.”
Flake quoted the great President Theodore Roosevelt as follows: “The president is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. There should be full liberty to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right.”
He said: “Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
You too, members of the ANC NEC, have been morally treasonable to the South African public. You are, for the most part, a disgrace and an embarrassment to your elevated positions.
(With acknowledgements to the few among you who are honourable, dedicated and principled.) Hartbeespoort
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