We have enough hate speech mongers already

Columnists
JULIUS Malema came to Zimbabwe and was given a guided tour by Zanu PF of the farms. From that tour he concluded that the land reform programme was well and truly a success.

JULIUS Malema came to Zimbabwe and was given a guided tour by Zanu PF of the farms. From that tour he concluded that the land reform programme was well and truly a success.

He went to the extent of describing the process as “courageous and militant”. This prognosis came after Malema only heard from one perspective and yet there are other stakeholders in Zimbabwe apart from Zanu PF. He went on to state that they would “forever” support president Robert Mugabe’s leadership and his political and economic programmes, which he said will redress economic and political injustices created by colonialism. It is shocking that he is not aware of the suffering that Mugabe’s policies have caused in Zimbabwe, from which we are only now beginning to recover.It is also obvious that Malema is a loose cannon lacking a firm political persuasion as he earlier on called for Mugabe to go and yet now he states that Mugabe should remain. Malema’s amateurish political demagoguery is unfortunate since he is in a position of public influence as a South African youth leader and sends an indication to the world that South Africa’s youth are still stuck in the past. Considering that Zuma has described him as a future leader of the African National Congress, I shudder to think what will become of South Africa if Malema embodies its future. Malema constantly plays the racial card and his actions betray a person who espouses a hatred of white people in general. Considering that white people and other minorities constitute a sizeable chunk of the South African population, I fear that his statements will ignite a civil war. Politicians like Malema prove George Orwell right who said: “Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”While President Jacob Zuma is attempting to broker a power-sharing deal between the MDC and Zanu PF, Malema goes on an all out offensive against the MDC, describing it as a “popcorn” party popping up in the country.We have enough hate speech mongers in Zimbabwe to need any more in the mold of Malema.

N M,Harare.