Keep dreaming, Helen!

Incoming on twitter:

@JacquesR Zille calls on JZ to step down: http://tr.im/gAkc.
The comments after the article are scary (besides mine, of course).

And yes, she did:

Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille has called on her ANC counterpart Jacob Zuma to step down as his party’s presidential candidate in the coming elections.
“Put your ambitions aside and act in the interests of the country and the constitution by publicly stepping down,” she said in an open letter to Zuma on Thursday.

Zille then went on to call on pigs to fly, bears to defaecate away from areas containing large numbers of trees and the Pope to tell us the truth: that the whole “God” thing is made up. Just what she is trying to achieve with this is beyond me. 
More seriously, her hint at legal action should JZ become President concerns me. I don’t see that that course of action would help at all. It would surely destabilise and further divide the country at a time when what the people need is more stability and unity in politics. But going through the courts seems to be how the DA is working just recently – perhaps because they realise that those are the only battles they stand a chance of winning. 

And yes, the comments after the article are a bit scary, but assuming that the things people say after an emotive political story on the Times website are representative of the views of your average South African is like assuming that what’s written in the Daily Mail is how all British people think. It’s just silly people saying silly things.

10 thoughts on “Keep dreaming, Helen!

  1. There are quite a few things Aunty Helen is dreaming about. Winning the next election comes a close second to JZ stepping down.

    And comments are just comments. And people are often more idiotic online than in real life.

  2. Damn. I so was not going to comment because politics drives me nuts and I don’t have anything intelligent to say. But here I go:

    I guess she is just fulfilling a role, a yin to Zuma’s yang. If there was all yang, would it not be like a Lockean state of nature?

    Everyone including her knows that what she is saying is like saying pigs will fly, but to just shut up and let something that she believes is wrong happen seems terrible somehow.

    Maybe she believes it is better to die in the name of futility than in apathy. I kind of see where she is coming from. Somebody has to say these things, no?

    Po´s last blog post was: The pies and the lies. (Note: 6000 miles… is not responsible for the content of external internet sites)

  3. Rob > She needs to stick to one job. She’s doing “ok” as mayor of Cape Town, but she’s no good as leader of the Desperate Alternative, right now.

    Po> Why does somebody have to say these things? What a waste of paper. As for your “it is better to die in the name of futility than in apathy” quote – you’ve been at the EtBr again, haven’t you?
    I don’t see it so much as apathy “can’t be bothered” as an educated decision based on time spent vs outcome: “have looked at this and it’s not worth bothering.”

  4. Ah, are you resorting to the ad hominem fallacy upon my poor transilluminating self?

    It was a figure of speech, you know, I did not mean she was literally going to die, I meant she felt it was something to fight for, even in vain … Enough. No more politics from me.

    Po´s last blog post was: The pies and the lies. (Note: 6000 miles… is not responsible for the content of external internet sites)

  5. Po > Eh?
    Yes, yes, I note that it was merely a figure of speech. But then, I though I treated it as such.
    It was an honourable effort by old Two Hats – just a bit of a pointless one.

    P.S. Nice bands, baby! 😉

  6. 6K, I don’t get why you think legal action would further divide the country. Pro-Zuma’ites already have an irrational hatred of the DA, and anti-Zuma’ites would love to see him sidelined. The divisions exist already. The DA may well be intending to use them to their advantage, but that isn’t incompatible with also having a principled argument on the issue. There would be a significant precedent set here if someone like JZ was installed as President – one that should concern us, seeing as we live in a continent that’s not too friendly towards democracy and the rule of law.

    Further, while I agree that we want unity and stablity, those benefits shouldn’t be purchased at any cost – especially if those benefits are possibly only short-term, and are lost when/if Prez. JZ makes it impossible for him to be tried while in office, or seriously handicaps efforts to put him to a fair trial.

    Court battles are not the only ones the DA has a chance of winning. They have a serious chance of winning at least the Western Cape. More importantly (to me, perhaps not to those in charge of strategy), they have a chance of winning the high ground in terms of principle and rationality, which may help them win the long-term war, if not individual battles in the short-term.

    As for the comments at the Times – sure, many are just venting. But they do that on election day, too.

  7. Crapping hell, I am back. Why can I not be a good flourescent seamonkey and stick to topics I know?

    I think the zillemonster is doing a good thing. It is futile, yes, but if the early struggle leaders thought like that, then well, nothing would have changed. She is a tiny silly voice, but if no one said anything, well, then no one will ever say anything. There may come a time when action is actually required. At least people will know that it is possible to stand up and make noise against the all-powerful ANC.

    I do believe that to say nothing is apathy, if you believe that something is wrong. That terrible political apathy of most South Africans has not helped things before.

    Ok, stepping away from the keyboard now, I swear.

    po´s last blog post was: The pies and the lies. (Note: 6000 miles… is not responsible for the content of external internet sites)

  8. Po/Jacques > Have read, have digested. Currently super snowed under and your comments deserve a decent response (or mine, anyway). Please check back “later”.

    Ad Wizard > I LOL’d. OL!

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