Cartoon Bally Hoo

Just had to show you the cause of the latest howls of outrage in sunny SA. Well, in some quarters, anyway. This appeared in the Sunday newspaper - Zapiro, the cartoonist, either very skillful and brave or an anti-revolutionary and a dirty dog, depending which side of the fence you are positioned. For "Sow Thefricans" (to borrow from Ness), the meaning is self evident. For others, the man unzipping is Jacob Zuma, newish president of the ANC, with a coveteous eye on the presidency of the country. He has a list of charges as long as your arm against him, which, he has always declared, are false. He gave the impression that he couldn't wait to prove his innocence in court. (He has already been found not guilty in an awkward rape case - hence the shower head positoned on his head in the picture. He famously said at his trial, when asked about his lack of condom-use, that he had taken a shower after the deed so he would be ok!) Ja, ser-i-o-us. But now that a date is set for him to face the charges in court there is suddenly a outpouring of raging rhetoric in the media by those portrayed as holding down the victim (Justice System) in the cartoon; the ANC Youth League; the SA Communist Party; the ANC; and the trade unions (COSATU). They are violently opposed to his trial,saying that the courts of the country will not judge him fairly and that the judges are suspect.

The message they are sending is that if Zuma is not let off the hook and if he is not made president, they will "take action."

There is a LOT that is worrying about this - even given that pre-election posturing is going on as it does in most countries - but the main thing to me is that this man, who wants to be our next president is letting hotheads undermine the judiciary. And he does nothing to stop them.