I don’t really have time for this, but the moment seems to insist. So:
I awoke this morning to a world framed as if by an immortal hand or eye.
The bludgeoning to death of Eugène Terre’Blanche together with the Zimbabwe public display by Julius Malema feels like a tableau arranged by a naughty god with idle hands.
Here’s the shape of it:
- Malema, on a Zanu-PF platform, admires the seizure of white owned farmland and sings “kill the boer” – catch his words here. This is on a Zanu-PF platform. That party spent much of the 1980’s ransacking the liberation pantry. Just as the last few goodies were being looted and eaten by the engorged Zanu-PF fat cats popular discontent started to escalate and began focusing itself on the ruling party. With no wealth left to buy off the masses, the Zanu-PF cronies turned to what was left of the productive economy: the commercial farming sector. The land was largely white owned. Zanu-PF orchestrated the forceful invasion and seizure of the farms and commercial agriculture and foreign earnings collapsed.
- Terre’Blanche, who infamously, and almost on a whim, beat a black man into permanent brain damage, is an icon of white supremacy – much diminished now and something of a joke; but undoubtedly sanctified by the manner of his death (it appears he was killed by young black labourers over a dispute about money). Already there is noise of a white backlash – although it is too early to say whether this should be taken seriously or not.
I don’t really need to say anything more. This story tells itself and it has its own energy … except perhaps it should be mentioned that Jacob Zuma has just attempted to mediate between the MDC and Zanu-PF – the history of Zanu-PF’s violent attempts to crush the MDC refers. Julius Malema is the President of the ANC Youth League – and I suspect someone more important and threatening than he first appears, as I argue here. Jacob Zuma is the president of the ANC and of the country and the SADC negotiator between the MDC and Zanu-PF … and Julius Malema refused to see the MDC while he was in Zimbabwe.
Nic Borain 
Something seems to have gone wrong with your post. It would be interesting to read the rest.
thanks alleman …. I must have hit “publish” before I had finished (at Easter lunch with family and working on my sister’s mac has been confusing) hopefully it is fixed now – cheers
You stated in an interview saying:
“But Terre’blanche is an old criminal and I don’t think people would come to his defence or his killing somehow invigorate white people opposition to the new South Africa.”
How can you say because he is a criminal that noone will jump to his defence?! wasnt Mandela a criminal at one stage?!?!
Funny how days after Malema comes back from Zimbabwe after saying he wants to bring Mugabes views to South Africa a HUGE boer figure is killed????
what a load of rubbish!
Wait a minute. Don’t jump the gun here. You are over zealous to presume that one can compare nelson Mandela to eugene terrblanche. The former stood for the equal rights of all people. The latter, only for rights for what he regarded as his own.