The Political Hat

     Another “quick takes” on items where there is too little to say to make a complete article, but is still important enough to comment on.

     The focus this time: The pale scapegoat.

     First, a little mood music:

     Carrying on…

     Ah, when diverting attention from one’s own misrule to a handy scapegoat is more important than not misruling…

“Shockwaves are still being felt in South Africa after President Cyril Ramaphosa’s controversial announcement that the country’s constitution is to be changed to explicitly allow for the expropriation of land without compensation.

“Markets reacted negatively and the currency, the rand, has continued to plummet over the last week.

“This is because the plan has invited comparisons with the chaotic land reform programme across the Limpopo River in neighbouring Zimbabwe, which saw scenes of violent evictions of mainly white farmers.”

And they don’t care how much they hurt themselves and their families.

“During a session held this week in Cape Town’s Goodwood suburb one woman representing the South African Homeless People’s Association said: “Twenty-four years of liberal democracy [has] increased poverty.

“‘The masses are worse off because of the willing-buyer-willing-seller principle.”‘

“Another person who gave testimony said: ‘We are going to take the land, even if it means we’re going back to the dark ages. This country must be African. We are African.’

“A man wearing a T-shirt of the right-wing Freedom Front Plus party said that his Afrikaner people had been farming in the Western Cape for the past 300 years.

“‘When my forefathers came, they found no-one but the Khoi and the San. My people got what they have in this country not by theft, not by genocide, but by fair means.’

“Some land owners threatened war to defend their farms and their opponents vowed to respond in kind.”

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