Barney Pityana's attack on the President is Machiavellian at its best and idiotic at its worst (see here). Why doesn't he just come clean and say outright he supports AGANG and its nefarious DA umbilical cord to discredit the President and rubbish any good that the ANC does, has done and plans to do. Barney the intellectual giant should know better and carefully reflect on the Machiavellian precept that "The prince, in short ought not to quit good courses if he can help it, but should know how to follow evil courses if he must."
For one who is no stranger to controversy, it is a pity that Pityana elects to pontificate on morality and leadership when he is in no position to do so. Over the past decade he has been called a "clown", "intellectually bankrupt" and a "binge spender". During his tenure as vice-chancellor of Unisa he was accused of running the university as a "spaza shop", that he had "failed workers" and "lacked vision".
Barney's call on the President to resign is an echo of another village that has lost its idiot as the failed Mazibuko and Zille tirade in December fell flat on its face in the run-up to Mangaung because it was rooted in expediency. It appears in true Machiavellian style that Pityana is hasty to follow in their footsteps. It is such sheer stupidity that discredits AGANG and Barney's complicity in cavorting with the DA in its desperation for power, and patronage to dispense to its mainly white privileged class. Pity pitiful Pityana perhaps he also believes that the end justifies the means.
Pityana accuses Zuma's government of lack of passion. Did the good doctor mean compassion? Either way two decades of ANC government in South Africa has delivered incomparable levels of delivery in comparison to any emerging nation in the world and in some aspects even better than the developed world (soundness of our financial system sic.) including in terms of basic services-access to water, electricity, roads and schools; enhanced social welfare in terms of grants, support for single mothers, the disabled and vulnerable groups; international stature in terms of representivity in global forums, leadership and mediation in Africa; peace and stability-in terms of four successive free, fair and transparent elections incidentally won outright by the ANC.
Yes, we are not without challenge and there is hardly a government worldwide that has survived the global meltdown of much of the last decade not to mention the immense burden of the Apartheid legacy without serious challenges in terms of various levels of impact on poverty, inequality and unemployment. That is our collective challenge as government, civil society, business and indeed as a nation. To call on the President to resign as often as roosters crow in the early morning only reflects on the paucity of intellect and level of desperation that the DA, Barney and AGANG has reached.
Finally, Barney Pityana's criticism of collective leadership reeks hollow and must be exposed for what it is. A legacy of one hundred and one years of ANC collective leadership has withstood the test of time and will ensure that the ANC lives and the ANC leads for a long time to come. He would do well to take a page from the life of Steve Bantu Biko and his untiring commitment to collective leadership as opposed to the rants and whims of an individual.
Statement issued by ANC Western Cape leader, Marius Fransman, February 25 2013
Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter
