The 24-hour news cycle worldwide is accelerating by the year. This phenomenon also occurs on a local level, where the short attention span of social media has clearly carried over into the newsroom. These days, every week requires a new hero to praise, a new villain to condemn, and a new crisis to fixate on. This week’s arch-scoundrel on the front page will only be a dim footnote in the collective memory by next week. The most recently earmarked “villain of the week” in the media cycle (both corporate and social) was Roman Cabanac, the newly appointed chief of staff to the minister of agriculture, John Steenhuisen.

This episode played out like a “Two Minutes of Hate” scene from Orwell’s 1984. In 1984, these two minutes of hate are an event where party members from Oceania unite against the enemies of the state. They watch a video on a large screen on which images of the “enemy” appear and then together they shout insults in the direction of the screen. In Cabanac’s case, the “scandal” was so artificially put together that it could be sold as ”real leather” on a downtown Johannesburg sidewalk.

There has been more hysterical commentariat outrage over Cabanac’s alleged lack of qualifications than there was when the MK Party sent an anti-white lunatic to parliament who, in a 2018 speech, called for white women and children, and even their pets, to be killed. Moreover, this outrage came from people who probably are not able to name the chiefs of staff of any of the other 31 ministers in the bloated cabinet, let alone their qualifications.

On the question of qualifications, it is telling, as the Overton Press pointed out, that Cabanac’s LLB degree, his years of work within the legal world, and his management experience with several successful businesses over the years are not mentioned in the hitpieces against him.

The other point of contention that Cabanac’s critics have latched onto is his position that the ideology of liberalism is not popular among black Africans. This was apparently a “racist” sentiment. Chris Becker’s witty response was to challenge those attacking Cabanac to point out one classically liberal government in Africa (current or historical). Becker argues that Cabanac's position is centred around clearly observable cultural differences between ethno-linguistic groups in Africa. That certainly doesn’t make him a racist.

Cabanac grew up on a farm, and his response to the allegations against him speaks volumes. He declares that he is “conservative like 80% of his fellow South Africans.” Cabanac went on to say that “agriculture is an inherently conservative profession” and that he is “not going to apologise for holding views that will make South Africa a better place for my children”. From my previous conversations with Roman his position was clear that he has no desire or plans to leave South Africa and is determined to stay here to build.

One fact is abundantly clear from this eruption of indignation: South Africa’s political landscape has shifted so far to the left over the years that conservatives like Cabanac are seen as “radical” and ”extreme”. As Robert Duigan points out, Cabanac is not a dangerous radical, “he is one of the few sensible men in the room”.

I second the sentiments of the Free Market Foundation’s Martin van Staden: alarm bells about the “controversy” of Cabanac’s views ring hollow when self-confessed communists are appointed as ministers. The feverish hysteria surrounding Cabanac’s appointment becomes even more laughable when one considers that multiple members of parliament have done chants and delivered speeches encouraging the killing of minorities. In that context, Roman Cabanac’s appointment is a welcome breath of fresh air.

Ernst van Zyl is head of public relations at AfriForum and the director of the documentary film Selfbestuur (Self-Management). Ernst obtained a master’s degree (cum laude) in Political Science at Stellenbosch University. He is co-presenter of the Podlitiek podcast, is the host of the Afrikaans podcast In alle Ernst and has a channel for political commentary and interviews on YouTube. Ernst usually publishes contributions on X (formerly known as Twitter) and YouTube under his brand Conscious Caracal.