A little learning, it is said of the youth, can be dangerous. It can also be quite amusing, as we were once again reminded, here at the Mahogany Ridge, when we got our hands on a statement from the ruling party regarding the sexist insults directed at Lindiwe Mazibuko by ANC MPs during the Presidency budget vote debate.
On Tuesday, you will recall, John Jeffrey had a contemptible dig at the DA parliamentary leader's body size - ". . . while the Hon Mazibuko may be a person of substantial weight, her stature is questionable" - and, on Thursday, Buti Manamela attacked her over her dress sense.
Mazibuko tweeted her annoyance with Jeffrey: "So, my body is trending in Parliament. Last year it was my hair. When will ANC just come out & say ‘You disgust us because you're a woman'?' Unsurprisingly, Sandy Kalyan, the DA's deputy chief whip, announced that she would be writing to ANC chief whip Mathole Motshekga urging him to act against the MPs for their sexist and chauvinist behaviour.
Enter the ruling party's half-learned Little Lord Haw Haw, Moloto Mothapo, who dashed off a rather bewildering explanation for Jeffrey's remark: it was all clever word play. A pun, in fact. (It was no such thing, of course, but don't tell anybody.)
"We understand . . . that although [Jeffrey's] reference to Mazibuko during the debate . . . was a pun, it had more to do with her influence and power associated with the position she holds than her physical weight," Mothapo said. "Jeffery has carefully reflected on the ambiguity of the statement and accepts that they it may have been understood to refer to Mazibuko's physical outlook. (sic)
"In this regard, he will unconditionally withdraw the statement when the presiding officer gives him an opportunity to do so in the House and apologise to Mazibuko. We commend him for this voluntary decision. Having dedicated his life to the struggle for a non-racial, non-sexist and democratic South Africa, Jeffery finds the claim that his remarks were intended to be sexist and chauvinistic insulting and mischievous. The same pun could have been directed at even a male in similar position as Mazibuko."
Well, as some of the regulars would tell you, people who make such alleged "puns" should be hung, drawn and quoted. However, given that there certainly are a not insubstantial number of other MPs about which it could be said that one risks life and limb getting between them and the buffet, perhaps we really should encourage the free flow of such puns.
Mazibuko has since accepted Jeffrey's apology, and said of his stoutist remarks that they were "nothing more than a distraction from [President Jacob Zuma's] weak speech today in the House".
No such apology has however been forthcoming though from Manamela regarding his comments on Mazibuko's attire which, for the record, was a paisley dress that ended above the knee, black stockings and a red jacket. Mothapo believes one isn't necessary. "We have no desire of playing fashion police in this institution," he said, before incongruously playing fashion magistrate and huffing on about Mazibuko's "lack of respect" with her inappropriate outfit.
The curious thing about Mothapo, though, is that, like most of our giddy youth, he has posted photographs of himself on the Internet. From several of these it would appear that he not only enjoys wearing trilbies and cloth caps, but does so in an affected manner that suggests to the uninitiated and impressionable that he is something of an intellectual. Throw in the Eiffel Tower, a pack of unfiltered Gitanes and Simone de Beauvoir and you'd swear it was Sartre you were looking at.
Sadly, though, the photographs suggest not a philosophical giant, but rather a young man with no manners whatsoever. Wearing a hat indoors is inexcusably rude. Young people must be made aware of that.
Young people should also know that they must stay off the drugs. By order of Number One. This, at least, was Zuma's message at a wreath-laying ceremony at the Hector Peterson Memorial in Soweto as the Youth Day commemorative events got underway yesterday.
And how fab it's all going to be for the youngsters this weekend. As The New Age explained, "Over the years, there has been a notable shift from politics to more fun-filled festivities." Yes, very fun-filled indeed. Like, tomorrow Zuma will deliver a keynote address in Newcastle. He'll be joined by minister in the presidency Collins Chabane and arts and culture minister Paul Mashatile. In Gauteng, premier Nomvula Mokonyane and various other ANC nobs will lead a 14 kilometre march to Orlando Stadium. In Durban. . .
On second thoughts, the drugs may not be a bad idea.
This article first appeared in the Weekend Argus.
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