by LUKE MONTTGOMERY ZUNGA
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – GENERAL elections are here. The euphoria is seen through street posters in addition to advertisements on radio, newspapers, social media and door to door word of mouth.
Where I stay, I am spoiled for choice. Whichever direction I look, there are postures.
Without any particular preference, I see the African National Congress (ANC) poster of President Ramaphosa, gleaming with a wide smile to the last molar, as if saying, ‘send me’, his speckled and rejuvenated. With my Artificial Intelligence (AI) I can read his mind.
He does not need a suit, to counter the little boys baying for the youths. The picture is brilliant with the ANC yellow, green, black and white, with the message, ‘A BETTER LIFE FOR ALL’.
Patched above, deliberately so, is the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), this little boy with a red T shirt and red beret. It does not appear in the new picture, as I know him.
The boy forges a smile, uncharacteristic of a commander. He knows the trend, that you hide your gun, and send out a smile to do the trick.
Hon Julius Malema formed EFF as an economic emancipation party, but he now joins the bandwagon of winching and complaining. Everybody knows land is a key issue, and that is his crude message.
I see Action SA in green, with a Mr Fix it. He is smiling like others but appears to be pushed by the camera. He realized he is a businessman, and a suit would do. It is his first time to vie for the presidency.
This man did not fix our robot for months when he was mayor of Johannesburg. Maybe he will do so if he is elected.
To my left is Rise Mzansi, the Mqanduli fella, who was graced with millions to do this. Some political manipulators realized that Nelson Mandela came that way, and threw his money into the fray, hoping for another Mandela miracle.
There he is, Songezo Zibi, with a round face and a poorly cropped smile.
Oh, I did not miss General Bantu Holomisa. A characteristic commander, he cannot smile.
He issued a stern United Democratic Movement (UDM) warning “Corruption Destroys our Freedom”. Very true general, but will he fix it and there are other issues facing this directionless orbit. General Holomisa split from the ANC.
Now the party of a lady, the Good Party, with a clarion call “Stop the Suffering”, simply by switching to the Good. It appeared she forgot to face the camera for the shot. I immediately thought that women do themselves a favour, because they are more in number and can rule this country if they chose to work together.
Boso kimang? There is Build One South Africa (BOSA), Mmusi Maimane, promising a job for each home. I think he is laying the minimum standard, as everybody needs a job, not just one in a family. Maimane also has another poster with a party leader in the background. He is saying he is bringing women with him.
There is John Steenhuisen, leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) and Solly Msimang, some separated. The DA is a major factor in South African politics.
John is an experienced politician, whom black South African think must have more than matric. Yah, but a country is about institutions and vision, not qualifications.
Then the EFF poster loosened and flipped over the ANC poster. Is this the omen of what the DA fears.
These are all the posters on my way to the shopping centre. There are many other posters for the next article.
Strikingly none of the parties have the solution. They are all missing the starting point ‘that the number of formal businesses should be about 5% of the population’. South Africa is at 1.3%, far too short.
This task cannot be filled by foreign investors or white citizens who are already invested. None of the political parties said that and therefore their end game is failure. Join me in the next article for more party posters and an overall.
NB: Luke Montgomery Zunga is a socio-economic and political commentator.
– CAJ News