Hamba Scorpions, Kissing protest and Zuma charged
Well I am back from a short Xmas holiday and it is time to get back into the swing of things.
I hope you all had a great xmas season and I wish you all a wonderful and happy new year!
During the time I was away it seems as though the news has gone into overdrive!
First off we hear that the ANC want to dismantle the Scorpions. I must say I do agree with them on this one. When the Scorpions was initially formed, I said that it was a bad idea for a number of reasons:
1) Placing so much power in the hands of one agency could only lead to misuse of power. It was one more step towards a police state. Over time we have seen how the Scorpions have expanded their mandate further and further. At present the Scorpions can target virtually anyone under their definition of ‘organised crime’. We already have a police force, why do we need them?
2) The way the Scorpions was set up, it was open to corruption at all levels. I mentioned this back in the day and people disagreed with me then. Many of those people have changed their minds. Just take a look at the news over the last year and you will see plenty of cases of this corruption within the Scorpions heirachy.
All I can say about the Scorpions is: Good Riddance!
The second news item is that teens are planning on protesting the ridiculous Sexual Offences Act which passed recently. A number of groups have sprung up in cyberspace - especially on the social networking site, Facebook, protesting the new law.
Apparently a few groups have joined forces to do a protest calling for all teenagers to kiss in public places around the country, starting on January 5 and continuing throughout the month. The biggest group called ‘Everyone Against the New Kissing Law,’ has a following of over 6000 people.
The event’s planner said on the site: “The SA moral police have gone too far. Let’s stand together and stop this. It’s taking away our freedom of choice and it’s against our human rights.”
“Kissathons” have already been diarised on Facebook in the Centurion, Sandton and Menlyn areas in Gauteng.
All I can say is that I am glad they are doing this and I urge everyone to support them in this protest. It is about time we the people stood up against the stupidity of government. We are not sheep. The government is meant to represent the feelings of the people and not to impose their own morality on us.
And the really big news hit the wires today: Zuma has finally been charged!
“Today, December 28, 2007, the Directorate of Special Operations (Scorpions) served on Mr Jacob Zuma an indictment to stand trial in the High Court on various counts of racketeering, money laundering, corruption and fraud,” Zuma’s attorney Michael Hulley said in an email.
I keep wondering what this is going to mean for us especially in terms of his election victory in the ANC. What will the outcome be if he gets found guilty?
Some people have speculated that the ‘groundroots’ supporters will revolt and we could be headed for a type of civil war - the pro-Mbeki vs the pro-Zuma camps.
Others have speculated that Zuma is too important to be found guilty and will be let off via legal wranglings. This hearkens back to the various Winnie Mandela trials and people’s thoughts when she consistently got found not guilty, had charges dropped or was sentenced to next to nothing.
A few people have said that nothing will happen. He maybe found guilty, but as soon as Mbeki leaves office, Zuma will be pardoned and be set back up on the throne. If this happens it will be extremely damaging to our country in the eyes of the international community. It will also promote ill-feeling at home where many people will see itas cronyism.
However this whole situation pans out I feel that it can lead to nothing good and positive for us in South Africa. We are at a point in history where there is a crossroads. We will either walk the path to prosperity, or more likely walk the path that all other African countries have followed ….
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