Marius Fransman's racist rhetoric, shrouded in "Project Reclaim" is repulsive. Claiming that the "Western Cape is the last outpost of conservatism, racism and backwardness" (in his address to the ANC's provincial conference) he describes succinctly what the ANC, rather than the DA, has become. Excoriating his comrades for the factionalism within the ANC in this region, he contradicts himself by placing the blame for their weakness on the DA.
Under Fransman's leadership the ANC Western Cape has run a campaign against the DA characterised by racially divisive rhetoric and disruptive and violent protests. The party's "Project Reclaim" has attracted repeated allegations of bribery as well. Continuing as before under the former premier, Fransman seeks to exploit the poor, rural communities and the San peoples.
Suddenly aware that the San leaders and their organisations are a legitimate constituency, Fransman struts around the Western Cape making promises, which we know he will forget as soon as the election is over.
Poor man, he epitomises with Rob Davies, the dilemma minorities such as coloureds and whites face who work for the ANC. Compelled to "know their place", they are prepared to stoop quite low if they want to entrench their positions within the ruling party.
So Rob Davies, the new Ronnie Kasrils, earns his white stripes in cabinet, so to speak, by using his office to bash Israel. Nothing better than a white cabinet minister to take on Israel! Checking labels, to see whether products emanate from Israel or the West Bank, one would think they have better things to do given SA's high crime and unemployment rates.
Ditto Fransman - trapped by this Faustian pact with the ANC, how best to fuel tension? Incite animosities between Muslims and Jews and use his foreign affairs office to fuel inter-ethnic conflict. So morally bankrupt and desperate are they, to wrest control from the DA, that they will use ethnic mobilisation of the worst kind to get votes.
Muslims, Christians and Jews have a long history of friendship in the Western Cape and many of us have relatives across all those divisions. For Fransman to claim that because the Western Cape government has close ties with Israel, the ANC should therefore forge closer ties with Muslims is to act irresponsibly and unconstitutionally.
Coloured people are not oblivious to Fransman and his cronies' political strategies. Sowing discord in communities behind closed doors, their modus operandi is transparent for all to see. They do not know how to compete honestly and openly against their political competitors in the electoral process.
Threatening to "take back the Cape", as though he owns it, is a deeply undemocratic sentiment. The ANC does not own the Cape and we, the people, will decide who will govern. Typical of the "BIG MAN" syndrome, Fransman is so used to buying the spoils of office through patronage, that these tactics have come to replace the normal functions of the state.
Coloured people are not the ANC's voting fodder. They might lack political and economic power, but they are not as impotent as Fransman thinks they are. They are indeed very wary of Fransman and his divisive tactics. He represents for sure what happens when we fail to vote responsibly!
The ANC's unconstitutional tactics are blowing up in their faces, as we speak, with rumours rife about senior leaders shouting at each other at the meeting in the St George's Hotel over the weekend. Julius Malema and the ill discipline of the Youth League are the surest signs of chickens coming home to roost for those who do not lead by example.
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