Mampara of 2015: Zuma – a Man out of his Depth

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, SA Heroes and Mamparas 1 Comment

Jacob Zuma’s election by the ANC as President was never going to bode well for South Africa. His rise to being the only candidate to stand against Thabo Mbeki despite two latent but revealing moral flaws – unresolved charges of rape and corruption – was extremely worrisome for clear thinking people. Zuma has revealed himself to be every bit as corrupt and venal as was expected but his seminal decision to fire yet another competent minister, Nhlanhla Nene, and replace him with an incompetent epitomised a man out of his death.

Main picture: Jacob Zuma (2ndR) poses for photographs with his three wives Sizakele Khumalo (R), Nompumelo Ntuli (L), and Thobeka Mabhija (2-L) after the State of The Union Address
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Mampara of the Week: Nathi Nhleko, South African Minister of Police

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, SA Heroes and Mamparas 5 Comments

Does the Minister of Police take the South African public for idiots? Clearly he does. In attempting to justify the indefensible, he has clearly treated the rest of us as imbeciles.

Ultimately the sordid Nkandlagate saga will define Zuma’s legacy much like Watergate defined Tricky Dicky Nixon’s and Monica underscored Clinton’s term as president.

Mampara – Afrikaans for supreme idiot, an imbecile. Its onomatopoeic property especially when pronounced gutturally engenders it with more potency than the English idiot; hence my usage.

Let us recapitulate for those that have been in a coma for the past 5 years. Zuma’s personal homestead is located in the backwoods of KwaZulu Natal, a nondescript quintessential African village called Nkandla. This fact would have remained in obscurity and a footnote to history had it not been that this private residence required a security upgrade.

Main picture: The Nkandla “compound” from MyBroadband

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The Mampara of the Year: 2014

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, SA Heroes and Mamparas 2 Comments

In South Africa at the moment, it is not difficult to pick a Mampara as we are spoilt for choice. Of course our beloved country is not the only one that has its prominent citizens involved in half-witted and mindless actions. In the forefront of these imbecilic actions, as if to be in the limelight albeit for 5 minutes, are mainly politicians or political appointees.

The candidates for this prestigious award are not only politicians as non-politicians have also tried exceptionally hard to clasp this award. The first such person who springs to mind is Steve Hofmeyer who should have stuck to music. Instead he ventured into the realms of politics which is known to dull one’s thought processes. In one such memorable comment and reverse logic so beloved of politicians, he claimed that the Blacks in South Africa were responsible for Apartheid!

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Mampara for July 2014: Minister of Agriculture Senzeni Zokwana

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, SA Heroes and Mamparas 0 Comment

Despite heading up NUM and the SACP, this Mampara only paid his own workers one third of the minimum rate for working seven days a week

In case I am castigated for misstating the formal job title of this Month’s Mampara, Senzeni Zokwana is the recently appointed Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. This Mampara is currently the National Chairperson of the South African Communist Party and was formerly the President of NUM – The National Union of Mineworkers.

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