Hypocrisy at its best

A friend (cyber friend might be more appropriate) made an interesting comment on Facebook about Tokyo Sexwale recently. Sexwale once accused Cope of using old people to get votes. “I thought Tokyo said they don’t use old people to win votes!” said my friend.

A few days ago the ANC marched and paraded Nelson Mandela before a crowd and the newspapers and television cameras crowed about his endorsement. Perhaps I should quote Tokyo’s criticism of Cope: “Our mothers are taken house to house, they are also paraded on TV. These people are performing witchcraft with our mothers. They are liars. You can’t have respect for people who use older people in that fashion.” Does this mean we shouldn’t have respect for the ANC, which used an old man who couldn’t even read his own endorsement because he is so frail, weak and tired?

Of course when Mamu Epainette Mbeki, the former president’s mother came out to endorse Cope, Tokyo said using old people to get votes was witchcraft. Naturally, he hasn’t criticised Jacob Zuma or the ANC for using an old person to get votes. His silence as the self-appointed defender of the elderly is not surprising.

Tokyo should not set high standards for other parties and then excuse his own. It’s a sad day when we speak of our politicians and say “what did you expect?” That is what many have come to expect of this once respected man. ANC members have whispered to me and called Sexwale an opportunist that can’t be trusted. They said he will go with whatever side he believes will win. They no longer recognise the comrade they fought with in the 1980s and early 1990s. As his wealth has escalated, his character as a politician has diminished. Is this just a case of a man gaining the world but losing his soul in process?