Spoilers, secrets and semantics Speak truth to power, they told you; just not when theyre in power

As youd expect in a country with eleven official languages and a whole lot of people who arent paying enough attention, SA is writing a whole new book on dirty tricks with language and lawyers. Two great recent examples; the collapse of governance at UKZN and the increasingly absurd ANC vs. Cope battles. The most popular trick at the moment is a spoiler, something you do just to fuck with someone. Hell, do it right, and you can make them just give up and go away, even if you come off looking like an asshole; you still won, so who cares? First, throw lawyers at the problem make it too expensive for your enemy to defend himself, and hell have to give in, no matter how right he is or wrong you are. After this, you do as UKZN vice-chancellor Makgoba, and claim that innocent men dont quit; a truly beautiful bit of character assassination. Just to drive the point home, you then sent a communiqu around to all staff and students claiming that Nithaya Chetty a man with a list of publications and awards as long as your arm is just an academic with potential, and not respected, acclaimed or any good at his job. The implication being, of course, that since hes a loser, he has no right to criticize the institution, or you as the almighty VC. Which is crap, right? I mean, just cos Im the janitor, doesnt mean what Im saying is wrong, especially if I have a stack of proof. For true villainy, though, look to the ANC. The three arguments theyve used against Copes name have each been obviously dumb, and each time theyve backed down, but so what? They dont care about looking smart, or right. What matters is distracting attention from and fucking with Cope, which theyve managed perfectly; the legal wrangling over the names get more press than policy issues. In case you havent seen them, they were; 1) People would get confused because Cope used the word 'congress'. Unlike, say, the four other groups at Kliptown using congress - presumably people are dumber now than they were back then, and so wont be able to tell the difference. 2) The Congress of the People in '55 was run by the ANC and inextricably linked to them hell, in many political circles people call the ANC the congress of the people - although whoever these people are, theyve been suspiciously quiet. 3) Cope is somehow claiming ownership of a historical event.

Think about that for a second; first they claim the event for themselves, then they say no-ones allowed to claim events. Now, they cant be so dumb they see the

contradiction, and theyre not; remember, they win anyway, since it forces Cope to spend a lot of time and money sorting out lawyers and court dates, and kills a bunch of their coverage, thus putting a spanner in the works of actually developing their party. But its not all doom and gloom. In doing these things, these guys re winning in the short term, but exposing themselves and their true natures for all to see. I mean, even if Id been ANC for life before, Id be rethinking my stance now. These guys are relying on the stupidity of the masses, wholl follow them blindly, and forget that they were promised a house with running water and power 14 years ago, and live in a tin shack today; that none of the people who might now be facing the first proper election of their lives will actually bother looking at the issues. Me, Im not so sure the population is quite that dumb; but, like the doctor said; Time will tell, Ace. It always does.

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