Some Politically Incorrect Comments by World Famous People

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, History, Opinion Pieces 0 Comment

Exceptions notwithstanding, probably none of the persons whom society has beatified with sainthood has an unblemished record. The lessor mortals fare less well. By now, Jacob Zuma is well known for his racist and misogynist comments. What about the Zulu King, Goodwill Zwelithini fanning the flames of xenophobia with his ill-advised comments? Finally it was an article by Jan Vermeulen entitled “This is why Gandhi’s statue was vandalised?” which propelled me to investigate further.

A case in point is Winston Churchill who is indubitably my history hero. Like all such luminaries Churchill was human. In the heat of moment, Winston did make some crass comments. Being an old-fashioned Imperialist and Royalist at heart – the last of a dying breed in the Nineteen Thirties’ – his vitriol was often directed at the Indian people & Gandhi in particular.

Main picture: Mahatma Gandhi  Continue reading

Another Perspective on the Destruction of Statues and Monuments

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, Opinion Pieces 0 Comment

Statues and monuments are an integral part of history. It is the future generations which bemoan their destruction and the loss of history, albeit painful. The misplaced notion that their obliteration will erase the impact of their milieu is fallacious. The desecration of 1700 year old Buddha statues by the Taliban in Afghanistan is just one exemplar of this ill-conceived notion.

Main picture: The removal of Rhodes statue from its plinth at UCT

Vandalism by ISIS in Mosul

A contemporary example of this barbarism was the wrecking of 3000 year old artefacts by the Islamic group known as ISIS. Priceless antiquities fell to the blows of these thugs. In their quest for religious purity, one vandal proclaimed that the items were being destroyed as they promoted idolatry. One of the items dating back to the 9th century B.C., depicted a winged-bull Assyrian protective deity, ‘The Prophet ordered us to get rid of statues and relics, and his companions did the same when they conquered countries after him,’ the unidentified attackers proclaimed.

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Helen Zille: South Africa’s very own Iron Lady

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, Opinion Pieces 0 Comment

No-one could call Helen Zille indecisive and not forthright in expressing her views. For this Helen Zille was christened Godzilla. Unlike Jacob Zuma who attempts to placate all factions within the party, Zille would not equivocate about her viewpoint. What will her legacy be and what is the prognosis under a new DA Leader, probably Mmusi Maimane?

A past in serving black causes

In spite of all the spurious and racist accusations against Helen Zille by the ANC and other black organisations, Helen Zille has an unsullied indisputable past in not only fighting the Nationalist Party but also assisting its victims. Zille began her career in journalism in 1974 as the political correspondent for the anti-apartheid nemesis of the Nationalist Government, The Rand Daily Mail.

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Call it what it really is: It is Xenophobia

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, Opinion Pieces 1 Comment

Like Mbeki in 2008, many government and ANC party functionaries have refused to label the latest outbreak of violence against foreigners as xenophobia. Why is there this reluctance to call a spade a spade, what was the spark that ignited the latest flare-up and what is the prognosis for future outbreaks?

It was like déjà vu. As I drove alone south on an almost empty N3 in the pre-dawn gloom towards OR Tambo to catch the early morning flight to Pietermaritzburg, I was astounded at the overt racism of the callers either in their justification of the attacks on the foreigners or their “humane human-rights” solutions to the problem.

All of the callers to the Early Breakfast show – as it is styled – on 702 Talk Radio were predominately from the townships.

Main picture: Xenophobic attacks halted business in Durban’s CBD

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On the Horns of a Malema

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, Opinion Pieces 0 Comment

The ANC has experienced breakaways and splits before. Historically the most significant was by the PAC in 1959. Of the most recent, Bantu Holimisa’s UDM was never going to be a threat to the ANC whereas Cope was potentially never a life threatening hazard but rather a less venal and self-serving version of the ANC itself. More ominously the EFF with its self-proclaimed populist radical policies are more lethal and hazardous not only to the ANC in particular but to SA in general. The dilemma for the ANC is whether to politically engage with them or totally ignore them. What is my prognosis for the EFF?

Main Picture: Julius Malema sings after addressing a group of soldiers in civilian dress at the Lenasia Recreation Centre Continue reading

The Politics of History: A South African Curse

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, Opinion Pieces 0 Comment

Many organisations abuse History to buttress their credentials or to make political statements. It can also be used as a weapon in political disputes. The fluidity of the interpretation of events creates the ability to distort it for one’s own advantage. Currently it bedevils South African politics mostly as a weapon to silence the ANC’s critics by labelling even their own missteps as being the fault of Apartheid. Let us consider its past and its possible future.

Main picture: An unwitting victim of the war on the statues: The Horse Memorial in Port Elizabeth

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The Criminal Justice System: What the Hell is Going On?

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, Opinion Pieces 1 Comment

The most concerning aspect of the current spate of corruption and incompetence scandals is that many relate to the Criminal Justice System. This structure is supposedly the bulwark against moral turpitude, malfeasance and corruption. Instead it is patently more venal and duplicitous than the supposed criminals.

Without a functioning and competent Criminal Justice System, a country is doomed to anarchy and mob justice. Its role is to serve an impartial role in the dispensing of justice in a fair and just manner without fear or favour.

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The Personality Cult of the Kim Dynasty of North Korea

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, Opinion Pieces 0 Comment

Before becoming sanctimonious that as a Korean one would never be deceived into believing all of the improbable, inconceivable and implausible accomplishments of the so-called Great Leader, consider the milieu in which its inhabitants live. With strict censorship, anything is impossible. This is the deranged topsy-turvy world of North Korea today.

The usual path of dynastic succession unfolded in the case of the Kim Clan. Grandfather Kim Il Sung – the Great Leader – was the architect of the Democratic – read undemocratic – Republic of Korea. It was established in the mould of the dictatorial communist regimes in Eastern Europe where the concepts of free press, free elections and freedom of speech was banished to be substituted by a Party Press, one party elections and Party-Speak.

Main picture: Kim Jong-il, the Great Leader who relied upon his supposedly supermen capabilities to impress his opressed people.

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How could they ever have permitted adverts like this?

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, Other Galleries 0 Comment

In this era, Political Correctness had clearly not been invented. Women were meant to occupy the kitchen and babies to drink copious quantities of Coke. What about smoking? Even the doctors were advised their clients to smoke.

What will our grandchildren berate us for? Advertising breads and pasta. Perhaps even hamburgers will a distant memory with the Golden Arches of a McDonalds only serving fatty foods and salads but no carbohydrates or starches. That is the excruciating difficulty in making predictions about the future as the future is synonymous with change but where will that change lead us to.

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What happens when the fatal disease called Aging is cured?

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, Health 0 Comment

Last weeks’ Time Magazine has a series of articles on how science can retard the rate of aging and possibly even halt it completely. Of more significance to me – which was unstated – was what would the social & societal consequences of such a process be? Does this even bode well for humankind in terms of the quality of those additional years? For instance would one then be senile for fifty years instead of ten?

 Main picture: I bet that Bridgette Bardot has many regrets about her life but probably her main misgiving was about getting old and more importantly, looking decrepit. Continue reading