Mbeki's firing is good for democracy!

Since the sacking of the president of the republic, Thabo Mbeki, South Africans have continued with their daily lives. Of course, this does not mean our people have not reacted. Some are delighted, some saddened by these events. However, not even a drop of blood has been lost. In most African countries, sacking a president without inviting civil war is unimaginable. Our country ought to consider itself to have a very matured and strong democracy.

To its credit, the ANC has remained consistent throughout since 2005. The ANC president fired his deputy on the basis of a judgement that was made in his absence. Our media and so-called analysts applauded this approach. It is surprising to find that the same analysts who had no qualms congratulating Mbeki for acting on the basis of untested inferences of a judge are the first ones to complain when the ANC does the same. What utter hypocrisy.

No doubt, the ANC decision is correct; of course, there might be concerns about the timing of the decision, but this does not take away the necessity to release somebody whose name has been tainted by allegations that he or she acted improperly by interfering with decisions of the NPA. Instead of vilification, I expected our self-appointed defendants of the judiciary to come out and applaud the ANC.

Of course, the firing of anybody, whether Mbeki or Zuma, is always painful, both to the person concerned and the citizens in totality. However, we must not forget, the firing of Zuma in 2005 was equally painful. So, he who can administer pain should be able to survive an equal lash. Therefore, there is no necessity to cry and dampen ourselves in tears for someone who has shown his capacity to fire people even for attending meetings for which they were not authorised, such as Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge.

Let the firing of Mbeki send the message clear for all to know: no one is untouchable!