The City Press report, revealing that an embarrassed ANC Youth League president Julius Malema sent a threatening SMS to SA Communist Party (SACP) deputy general secretary Jeremy Cronin following his somewhat less-than-glorious appearance at the SACP conference, clearly demonstrates that post-Polokwane the strongmen are flexing their muscles and woe betide anyone that gets in the way.
The text was allegedly along the following lines: “If you thought you have taught me a lesson, wait until you see what is coming your direction.”
This coming after the parties concerned had purportedly smoked the peace pipe.
The fact is that there is a fault line running through the tripartite alliance right now which is balancing on the nationalism versus socialism plate. Every time an issue falls to be decided which touches on that plate an earthquake measuring at least 7 on the Richter scale erupts.
Malema is South Africa’s leading exponent on socialism save that he lives the life of a capitalist. The SACP conference is made up of many political philosophers, probably more than any other party or grouping. It’s been the nature of the beast since the turn of the 20th century. Accordingly they can spot a closet capitalist from a thousand feet.
Enter Malema king of the headlines and specifically those surrounding nationalisation — in truth a SACP not ANC policy — and you have thrown a red rag in front of a conference of bulls. They snorted then charged this usurper to leave the building.
Exit Malema loaded to the gills with venom following his vilification by the masses.
Somebody was going to get it.
As we have seen previously it is not too clever to try and tackle Blade and Gwede so peace pipe be damned why not let dear old Jeremy have both barrels?
Amusing as many of us find these incidents it is time for the tripartite alliance to come to terms with the fact that they are going to have to somehow bridge the ideological divide that separates them. Instead of saying we will just leave members to decide their policies on their own, actually formulate a plan that covers the expectations of the individual members of the alliance.
You can’t keep blaming the media for pointing out what is becoming patently obvious — the rift is becoming wider and angrier.
If left to their own devices and with some of the personalities we have around, there is going to be an earthquake the likes of which will make Zuma versus Mbeki seem mild and which will occasion a tsunami that blows the alliance to the four corners of the universe.
And you can’t text from there because apparently you battle to get a signal.
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