The Dark Side

Dear Fellow South Africans 

Dark forces wrote the letter alleging vote buying during the ANC shindig. 

According to a KZN ANC person, there were fake, false, faceless people behind this bit of skulduggery. Great alliteration. 

It doesn't get falser than that.

Asked if the province would investigate, a Mr Mtolo said:

"We normally do not engage in things that don't exist". (Just occasionally?).

"We do not chase ghosts", he added. Wise approach. They are very elusive, according to informed sources.

Prior to this, a newspaper article told of the 'damning vote buying' letter. The ANC's electoral commission has remained silent over the 'alarming' allegations, said the article. Is there an ever-so-slightly accusatory note here?  A hint of righteous or unrighteous indignation? Methinks the journo doth protest too much? Perhaps I'm being hypersensitive. 

After the dark forces revelation, a follow-up article spoke of 'Confusion as delegate distances himself....'.  One way to avoid confusion is to check. (Remember the decuplets?).  Or has that part been dropped from journalism 101?

Was there some haste to get the juicy tidbit to the presses? 

I did come away with some interesting points to ponder;

1. Star Wars is not just fiction. There are dark forces out there.  In addition to the usual dark force stuff, they also write letters.

2. I need to read newspaper articles carefully. Truth may not necessarily be the holy grail for every journalist.  A sad, sobering realisation.

3. Beware of letters from dark forces. I received a letter from someone purporting to be a creditor's lawyer. The aggressive tone and misuse of apostrophes convinced me that it was one of those dark forces letters. Taking a leaf out of Mr Mtolo's book, I replied that I do not engage in things that do not exist. Nor do I chase ghosts, I added. That should take care of that.

Now, to business. Is vote buying season still open? I am not an ANC member but have many friends who are. I am open to doing some lobbying, if rates are market-related. 

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Yours in the struggle for transparency and fair remuneration.

Richard

Tips for the blogger gratefully accepted 

Capitec Bank, South Africa  

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O Tichmann 

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