Peter Bruce, one of our most distinguished and respected columnists, writes sense for five years at a time before going into an inexplicable speed wobble every election.
True to form, Bruce decided very early on in this election to conduct an energetic and determined campaign to canvass votes for President Cyril Ramaphosa. CR needed to have “his hand strengthened.” Believe it or not, the way to do that was to cast votes for the ANC parliamentary and provincial legislature lists because one cannot and does not vote for the president.
My memory is fading fast but I remember similar enthusiasms for other politicians in previous elections. One of those was Bantu Holomisa, whom Bruce viewed with stars in his eyes. I do not recall Helen Zille or Tony Leon, both of them big league politicians, ever being the flavour of the moment.
The enthusiasm was always transitory. Bruce’s election fancies (fantasies) soon fell out of favour and impatient readers waited for the next politician to be endorsed by Bruce. Just as Julius Malema was prepared to “kill for Zuma,” he soon turned his back on him, although to be fair to Zuma, Malema seems now to be half-in-love with him again.
Bruce must be becoming bored with his Ramaphosa campaign. He started so early this time that it has dragged on, seemingly forever, as the ANC looked more and more ropey with each sitting day of the multitude of commissions of enquiry. Furthermore, the publication of the election lists for both parliament and the Provinces underscored the fact that the ANC talk of a new dawn was just hogwash. Many on the lists may be described as rogues – or worse.
The promise that the ANC Integrity Commission would help clean up the lists proved to be a mirage. Even though it has indeed compiled a list of candidates who are a problem, including the deputy president and Minister Gwede Mantashe, they carefully waited to leak the names until after the date had expired when the IEC could receive objections and remove names from the lists.