Around the world with Malema and Terre'Blanche

Upon finding out that I was going overseas last Thursday (April 8 2010) a friend suggested that I was fleeing from Terre’Blanche and Malema. I wish I could have. Terre’Blanche and Malema have haunted my brief traverse through three countries. From the other side of the grave, Terre’Blanche crawled into the TV screen in my hotel room in a faraway land — shattering my borrowed tranquillity and wrecking my brief escape. Images of him on horseback, in uniform and in full cry where everywhere. Terre’Blanche has made more news in the week since he died than he has done in the past five years. Is this what they mean by life after death?

One TV network showed a brief interview with an AWB leader calling on his members to arm themselves and declaring that safety during the 2010 Fifa World Cup could not be guaranteed. One channel showed images of “farm workers” from Tshing as Cosatu skilfully kept them away from the possible danger and possible conflict at the Terre’Blanche funeral. Apparently, the Cosatu trick was to keep them busy with fiery speeches, slogans and the singing of songs — including that song. Contrast that with the funeral scene, awash with AWB colours, the ominous insignia resembling the Nazi swastika, open arms raised in Nazi-like salute with the singing of that other song. All these interspersed with images of Malema whipping up emotions, singing, laughing, shaking hands with Mugabe and generally being rude. And just before moving on to the next story, comment about fears for the successful staging of the Fifa World Cup would follow.

How has it come about that Malema and Terre’Blanche have become the faces of South Africa — Terre’Blanche in his dying and Malema in his rising — or am I mixing my metaphors? In a few short days it has become clear to me that for South Africa in the Fifa year, there is no such thing as local or merely national news. All news from “Fifa 2010 South Africa” is international news. The more sensational and the more stereotypical the more newsworthy! The brutal manner in which Terre’Blanche died (not to mention the insinuations and counter-insinuations that have been made ever since!), Malema’s utterances both before and after the death of Terre’Blanche (and look where Malema is during that week … having dinner with Mugabe) all these make just the right cocktail of sensation and intrigue the international media craves for.

Terre’Blanche must be smiling contentedly au fond de la terre blanche. What with the AWB faithful, all in uniform, solemnly saluting his coffin, children waving the old flag and the crowd singing the anthem of Terre’Blanche’s lost and still hoped for country? All of this in the presence of the country’s top cop and other senior government official! All of this in a week when no less than President Jacob Zuma, in a hastily arranged recorded TV address to the nation, read out a statement calling Terre’Blanche a “leader of (his) standing” — did I hear that correctly? Since then Malema has become more belligerent and more outrageous — if that is at all possible. In this short period, the ANC has moved from metaphorical struggle songs, to circumspective singing of the same (whatever that means), to the widely reported presidential reprimand of Malema and more recently, Malema’s own return reprimand of the president.

Throughout all these, I have seen signs of a nation in desperation and in what psychiatrist Frantz Fanon would have called a “nervous condition”. There has been hype, hysteria, phobia, frantic action, reaction, over-reaction and waves of successive national panic attacks. Such has been the nation’s desperation for reason from leadership, we have lapped up every sign of wisdom emanating from the side of our leaders. Steve Hofmeyr’s vicious closed letter not just to Malema but to all of us numbed us into deafening silence.

When Gwede called for circumspection we applauded enthusiastically, even though by the end of his press briefing we were not too sure what exactly he was asking us and the ANCYL to do. When the AWB threatened revenged for the killing of Terre’Blance, we cringed with fear or disgust, you take your pick. When they withdrew their earlier threats we applauded loudly. And when they sang their songs and waved their flags we cringed again. When Zuma reprimanded Malema we outdid ourselves in praise of the leader who has finally spoken. When Malema retorted we gasped. We have become a desperate nation in search for the slightest signs of reason and courage from the people we have elected to lead us and from those who have elected themselves to lead us. We remain hopeful. We remain ready at once to applaud or to gasp — whichever may come next. Ready to applaud. Ready to gasp for air from time to time. Still, we sink, deeper and deeper, into the abyss of leaderlessness.