mendacia audimus

"But better to be hurt by the truth than comforted with a lie."
— Khaled Hosseini

I don’t know about you, but I really hate being lied to. I cannot stand the thought of the truth being kept from me, and I would far rather be briefly upset by the truth than to be lied to and have the truth stolen from me. And once you have lied to me one lousy time, no matter how small the lie, I will probably never trust you again (but we can work on it).

But a politician that lies is unforgivable. Even if he doesn’t believe he is a politician. Yes, I am on the Malema wagon again. And you know what, I need to make it clear from the get go, I am not on this wagon for any reason other than the fact that I care for my country and its people, and do not like the direction in which Malema and his army of morons are trying to steer the country (and, unfortunately, appear to be succeeding).

South Africa is a country with great potential, but the potential is rapidly waning due to corruption and this concept that everyone the chosen elite is entitled to the wealth and resources of this country without having to work a day for it. Nothing comes from nothing. The citizens of this beautiful country work hard, pay their taxes and often get very little in return, as the politicians spend our money on ideas and blabber without delivery.

And Malema is the poster boy for ideas and blabber without delivery. And he is dangerous, even if no-one in government wants to admit it openly. But lets talk about his latest lies, as that is what started this conversation in the first place.

It was nobody's business where he got his money from - and his supporters did not mind his lavish lifestyle, ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema said on Wednesday

[source]

Apparently, it is perfectly acceptable to live a lavish life filled with sushi, designer suits, multi-million rand properties and luxury cars while fighting for the rights of the poor. Because someone who lives in a house with a room count higher than his own IQ can perfectly understand the plight of someone who shares a one bedroom makeshift shack with no running water or electricity with 5 other people. It is easy to make decisions on behalf of the poor and destitute over caviar and French champagne.

From the same article:

First he said the news report only existed in "the imaginations of right-wing, narrow-minded and obsessed white people"
Then he told a journalist who asked where he got his money from: "It's none of your business... you must mind your own business."
He was a private citizen and not accountable to the media, said the African National Congress Youth League leader.

Ok, so let’s get a couple of things clear here:

1. Not all white people are right-winged or narrow-minded. In fact, you may find the majority of us are actually quite nice people who like to believe that we are all equal.
2. No-one is accountable to the media, the media exists to serve public interest. This means that the news is reported to ensure tax payers are informed on what the government – who is also in place to serve public interest, just as an FYI – does with our money and our country.
3. The minute one becomes a politician, one is no longer a private citizen. If you decide to open your mouth in public, your business is no longer your own.

I think Mr Malema must decide if he wants a life in politics, or if he wants to be a private citizen. I know many many people will applaud (and do the happy dance) should he decide to return to the life of a private citizen so that the media can leave him alone, but somehow I cannot see that happening.

But the reason we keep hammering on Malema is because he keeps telling the big lies, and he very much resembles another very dangerous man from history.

His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it.

Sounds like Malema’s profile, but it is actually a description of Adolf Hitler’s profile. And there are many other similarities between Malema and Hitler’s methodologies. Like Malema declaring racism = murder, after making racist comments like ‘white people are criminals’ himself earlier this year.

The longer we allow Malema to spread hate, the further away we move from the ideals of Mandela, and the worse things will be in this country. And that is not the paranoid ramblings of a middle-class white chick, seriously, but rather the truth raised by anyone with half a brain. We need to stop allowing this moron to polarise the country, and rather return to the wonderful rainbow nation we (ever so briefly were) were not too long ago.