Nothing But The Truth

 Dear ANC

I address this letter to your great organization in general, as I'm not sure who's in charge right now. It's all a bit confusing.

I am disappointed that you have not responded to my application for a cadre position. Nevertheless, like Mr Zuma, Dr Ace and other struggle heroes, I live by the dictum: 'If at first you don't succeed...'

Perhaps I need to be more specific as to where my not inconsiderable talents may best be employed. (These come accompanied by that quality so rare today: humility).

I notice that you have set the bar very high. Still, I have the experience, ability and aptitude to serve on your integrity committee (or one of them). You have a backlog. I have the skills.

I performed similar duties in a non-profit institution. Among other things, I chaired the Prisoners for Integrity and Service to Society club (PISS). Having spent much time among interesting and complex characters, my skills at surgical extraction of truth are legendary. 

Just an interesting side note. Because of the regard in which my talents were held, I was carried shoulder-high to the gates of the institution. By police officers. Is that the whispering of fate or what?

I reluctantly took my leave of the institution for reasons related to health. I am available as early as tomorrow

Just one question: are you now in a position to pay salaries again?

Yours in the struggle for integrity, truth, justice and quality t-shirts.

Richard 

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Capitec Bank, South Africa  

1378565477

O Tichmann 

+27 833970723

The Candidate

 Dear Fellow South Africans 

Like Ms Sisulu, I had a somewhat long overdue awakening. 

I dreamed that we were dining at my favourite restaurant, The Humble Pie. We had just concluded an animated exchange about apologies and retractions.  Being concerned about the poor, and aware of my strivings as a struggling,  would-be writer, Ms Sisulu was giving generous advice on the temptations and pitfalls of plagiarism.

Just then, a savage ray of Durban sunshine dissipated my dream but I awoke to the realization that I am in the wrong business (wishful thinking and idle speculation). "I coulda been a contender", I muttered as I struggled from the depths of sleep.

My natural home, I now realise, is in South African politics. That dream confirmed what the universe (or at least the solar system) has been whispering to me all along. Please support my candidacy for the following reasons.

At college drama classes, I was told that I was a dancer of no mean potential. One important box ticked. My acting, I was told, was a little overwrought. A definite advantage on the SA political stage. I've also been told, at various karaoke bars, that I can carry the odd tune. I wish that I had paid more heed to the school counsellor who said that I was a little politician.

No stranger to the grittier side, I have been escorted out of several rugby stadiums. All, of course, in the cause of ethical, responsible protest. I will not tolerate questionable referee decisions against the home town side. It's called integrity. I think that you begin to see the culture fit. I can disrupt council or parliamentary sessions with the best of them.

Nothing if not proactive, I have already penned several carefully thought out attacks on colonial clerks (and indeed, clerks in general), as well as apologies and retractions. (Just in case...). I did make use of plagiarism-tracking software. I am ready to enter the fray. 

Yours in the struggle to serve.

Richard

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1378565477

O Tichmann 

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Malemanastics

 Dear Mr Malema 

People call you a flip-flopper. I call you flexible. You have the dexterity of one of those trained-from-birth Russian gymnasts.

A good politician must know the perfect moment to alight from the beam. To rapturous applause. And upraised scores of ten from your mesmerised followers.

I am not surprised that you are now checking out restaurants for compliance with labour laws and opportunity for South African jobseekers. This after allegedly encouraging people to find creative ways to enter South Africa. Hey, what's a mind for if you can't change it from time to time? Or when the pressures of the times demand it? I fully expect you to join Afriforum at some point.

I myself like to keep an open mind. That's why I have a hollow skull on my nightstand.

I find your approach very balanced and equitable. You have both praised and condemned every public figure available for praise and condemnation. An even-handed approach; stroke with the left hand and klap with the right. 

George Orwell must have known someone like you. In 'Nineteen Eighty-Four', Eastasia, Eurasia and Oceania were friends one day, enemies the next and at war in between. That's you to a T, sir. You've also been known to do the four-legs-good, two-legs-better thing, from 'Animal Farm', with consummate skill. 

A politician's politician.

Yours in the struggle to stay ahead of the game.

Richard 

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Capitec Bank, South Africa  

1378565477

O Tichmann 

+27 833970723

Clowns And Asses

 Dear Voters

Some people call you stupid for voting in representatives whose talents are summed up in dancing, singing and hurling abuse. 

I am horrified. Thats unfair. Stupidity has its limits. You have removed the brakes, barriers and guardrails. The disruption  of the recent Johannesburg City Council meeting reminded me of these two proverbs:

Chinese proverb: 'Do not put an ass into a horserace'. 

Old Russian proverb: 'A clown may entertain the troops but you put him in command at your peril.' 

You have done both. 

A day's work lost. The clowns and the asses will be paid. You won't.

Someone suggested that citizens should arm themselves with sjamboks and help the performers dance. A novel idea but dangerous and illegal.

Still, just from an aesthetic point of view, interesting to imagine. One can picture the nimble footwork getting nimbler, the high-stepping rising higher and those high notes being hit at perfect pitch.

No, get behind me, satan. 

Sorry, must be the curried chillies I had at lunch.

Yours in the struggle for just the teeniest bit of commonsense.

Richard 

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O Tichmann 

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It's The Constitution

 Dear Ms Sisulu

Your article is interesting. It is so chock - full of ironies, contradictions and absurdities that it could gainfully occupy political science or English students for a good half hour or so. What is revealing is a swift tour of your career, from your swearing in (remember that oath?), through your forgettable contribution over 27 years, to your interesting actions and decisions. (Your Human Settlements activities, your discovery of Cuban talent etc.).  That  makes your Damascus moment about as worthy of debate as an episode of Uyajola. 

Of course one has the freedom to write or plagiarize whatever one likes. Within the bounds of the law. It is a little awkward when you saw at the branch you've been perched on for so long. Quite comfortably.

Only one thing irks. After touring the corridors of power in various government departments for 27 years, is this your best? 

'The constitution and the judiciary ate my homework.'

Yours in the struggle for relevance.

Richard 

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The Humour Of Gwede Mantashe

 Dear Mr Mantashe 

It just pours out of your mouth, doesn't it - the wisdom, I mean.

'ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe said on Friday he was opposed to the prosecution of leaders of the ruling party implicated in the Zondo commission..... Mantashe said the report should rather be used to review ANC mistakes and rebuild the organization.' (Mail & Guardian).

Unfortunately, there are some minor problems with this proposal, which would otherwise have been as brilliant as the January midday sun in Durban.

 A friend, convicted of redeploying several cars, used the very argument to no avail, just before his sentencing. I suppose, taken to its logical conclusion, it could empty the gaols of murderers, rapists and the like. And fill the cemeteries and hospitals.

In the twenty-seven years of your party's glorious rule, we've seen little appetite for reviewing, renewing or rebuilding - anything. A little-publicized scientific discovery in Wentworth, Durban, revealed that an absence of skaam cells in the body makes such renewal impossible. We've seen promotions, deployments and redeployments, instead of dismissals. In less developed societies, disgraced officials tend to keep a low profile. But we are a society free of the evils of discrimination. No stigmas here. Proud to be South African.

The composition of your integrity commission (richest of ironies) is a joke that only the ANC missed. 

I quote again:

"What do you think the ANC is, Father Christmas? I don't know where this notion comes from that we are a collection of individuals who have conscience. We are members of ANC in a party political system." (Your words)

'Wise words, sir. Proven true. The absence of conscience, collective or otherwise, has been amply demonstrated through the years' (My words)

Sir, to give any serious thought to your proposal, even for a nanosecond, would require a childlike faith that:

Pigs are perfectly capable of flight

Leopards can have a makeover

Wolves can, with a little persuasion, convert to a vegan diet

I can only conclude that your famous sense of humour was in play and that your rather clever joke has been misunderstood.

Yours in the struggle for fresh humour.

Richard

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Capitec Bank, South Africa  

1378565477

O Tichmann 

+27 833970723

Wenzeni uZuma?

 Dear Mr Zuma

Just this morning I awoke from restless sleep, muttering "Wenzeni uZuma?" (What has Zuma done?).

I'm hoping that the newly released Zondo Commission report will help me answer that question. I was alarmed and dismayed when 'The President's Keepers', 'Enemy Of The People' and books in similar vein landed in the bookstores. Fortunately, you explained that those were novels. Wonderful imagination, that Pauw chap. And the other authors.

I am currently immersed in the SAA portion of the report. It sounds as if business and governance were much more fun on your watch. I was enthralled by the account of the Jet Airways meeting. The report finds it odd that the minister would wait for two hours for the Jet Airways person, then sit silently, while that person behaved inappropriately toward his staff member. Easily explained:

1. Part of the humble, man-of-the-people approach, brilliantly modelled by your august self.

2. Mr Gigaba was probably simmering, fuming and also a little pissed off. He wisely chose not to speak. As he could not trust himself. Until he had calmed down. By which time, the meeting was over. Had he been blessed with your musical talent, he would quite probably have called, in song, for his machine gun.

You will have noticed, sir, that I am already poking holes in the report. I intend to continue, intermittently diving into your book for inspiration. 

A rather large number of people testified at the commission hearings. The pages of transcribed oral evidence and the documentary evidence run to numbers that I would not trouble you with, sir. Adept though you are in reading the stories that the numbers tell. Nevertheless, sir, those of us who prize loyalty will continue to support you. Though Birnam wood be come to Dunsinane.

Just a couple of points before I return to scrutinizing the report.

I don't know whether you listed the illuminati and George Soros among the forces of evil arrayed against you. If not, now would be a good time.

 I do hope that your second book will be coming to a car boot near me anytime soon. I'd like to offer you a signed copy of my own book, 'Dear Mr Zuma'; fulsome in praise, staunch in defence. Unfortunately, I do have to charge (It's January), but just a fraction of the R1000 you were asking. Say, three quarters.

Yours in the struggle for justice, truth and a buck or two.

Richard 

Tips for the blogger gratefully accepted 

Capitec Bank, South Africa  

1378565477

O Tichmann 

+27 833970723