Windbag Mbalula’s stupidity is emblematic of the ANC’s plunge into ignominy

There is a lot wrong with the ANC, so the stupidity of its secretary-general should ordinarily be the least of our concerns. However, he shows us why the party has become the punchline in a bad joke. This lowly newspaperman had intended to let the hapless ANC be for a little bit. The descent of South Africa’s erstwhile governing party makes this an impossible ambition. It is quite a thing when a once-revered brand is reduced to the butt of jokes by friend and foe. So exasperated are South Africans with the party that they often salve their anger by just laughing at the ANC and its leaders. For one to grasp this decay you just have to look at two photographs. One is of the ANC delegation to the Groote Schuur talks in August 1990, the first official contact between the party and the National Party government, and juxtapose it with any picture of current ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula.

In the first picture is delegation leader Nelson Mandela surrounded by recently returned exiles, newly freed prisoners as well as the United Democratic Front leadership. It was an A-Team of the liberation movement, sent out to bat in the first innings against the oppressor. That is why it is important to then look at a picture of Mbalula. Take a look, this lowly newspaperman urges you. One need not even hear him speak to gauge the diminution of brain power in the ANC. Just think about it: if the Groote Schuur talks were being held today Mbalula would probably be in that deputation. Imagine. There is no starker demonstration of the ANC’s race to the bottom than the debacle over the registration of candidates for the 4 November local government elections, a mess that can be laid squarely at the door of Mbalula. Here is a party that is one of a handful that have contested every election…