'Yes/no' referendum needed on Zuma and the arms deals before elections

In 1992, in the face of pro-apartheid political dissent, FW de Klerk boldly threw down the glove and asked for a yes or no referendum, made available only to white people. He asked the white people of South Africa if they wanted to move towards true democracy and abolish apartheid. South African whites responded with a loud, heartwarming “yes”.

In a sense I am glad that that referendum was only for the white people of SA. Of course if all race groups could have voted it would have been an even more overwhelming “yes”. We wouldn’t have known how many of those people were white, which is a salient statistic to know. By leaving it only to white people the majority of SA whites showed the world that they wanted an end to apartheid and were not racist per se (I emphasise the last two words).

I call for President Kgalema Motlanthe to do the same now with Zuma and the arms deals. Let’s have a referendum on whether Zuma should go to trial — just as any other person has to — before he becomes president. But, irreverently, Zuma is seen by his minions as a kind of Jesus Christ, incapable of sin.

However, I have no doubt of the outcome of that referendum. It will probably be a loud, resounding “yes” for Zuma Messiah. This is because those lemming-like followers of their dubious messiah just don’t think and examine the man behind his sacred robes. He could be the king who wore invisible clothes in that delightful fable who paraded around before his vassals stark naked. The people still stared in awe at the latest fashion, the king’s birthday suit, because they were deeply brainwashed to do so.

To wit, one of those mindless worshippers of Zuma Messiah said under Christi van der Westhuizen’s excellent post, The Z factor,: Is the real Jacob Zuma emerging? “You can say what ever about Zuma (sic). We don’t care but he is going to be our president. You can praise COPE, we don’t care. Zuma is the man of the people and an individual who want to enrich himself (sic). I know the white people they don’t want him but we gonna vote for and make him the president (sic).Viva Zuma Viva” — Ayoba

Who is the collective “we” that minion Ayoba refers to? What moral status does the “we” have? What is “we’s” sense of integrity and does “we” have the ability to tell good from evil? I find the questions chilling.

We see comments like minion Ayoba’s all the time on Thought Leadership. Minion Ayoba is easily representative of the inability of the masses of Zuma celebrants to think, dammit think about who and what they are worshipping. Therefore, Zuma Messiah will win and South Africa will lose.

I propose that the referendum vote be divided into different race categories. Then in the outcome of the yes/no vote we can at least see which race voted for “no enquiry into Zuma Messiah’s corruption and fraud charges and no enquiry into the shadowy arms deals”.

My bet would be that the majority of whites, Indians and coloureds would vote “yes, Zuma should stand trial and a proper judiciary appointed to closely examine the arms deals”. I have no idea what the black population would say. We would all like to know. I think we have the right to know. It will tell us more about the moral fibre of SA’s people, or dare I say, about the fibre of various peoples.

In closing, commentators have told me to get off my high horse and write more about China. I do, but I think it helps enormously to have a South African who can look at the politics from half way around the world. The view is a lot more objective.

And a lot more appalling.