OPINION

Bantu Holomisa a power hungry dictator

Masonwabe Sokoyi says the UDM president is simply frustrated by his party's downward spiral

Bantu Holomisa frustrated by downward spiral of his party voters hence attacking IEC

Bantu Holomisa is a former Bantustan Coup leader who has never grasped the essence of the South African struggle and never subscribed to any democratic process. South Africans will always remember him as a power hungry dictator.

The military crackdown instructed by Holomisa on teachers who were fighting against the exploitative and deploring work conditions under his watch in Transkei is still fresh in our minds.

Like any other dictator Holomisa is a self-appointed UDM President for life. In his honest imagination, the UDM does not exist beyond himself.  In fact this is a common feature that is fast becoming a defining factor in the South African politics. The common denominator between himself and Buthelezi is that they want to lead forever.

This is a tendency that has been adopted by the new kids on the block, Lekota and Malema, who appointed themselves as Presidents of respective stillborn organisations. South Africans should be worried about these undemocratic leaders who want to lead democratic government whilst they don't subscribe to democratic values. 

Based on the stifling of internal democracy and lack of fresh ideas, UDM has seen a substantial decrease in electoral support. His desperation for political relevance and increased electoral support, Holomisa is prepared to threaten the democratic stability and hard won freedoms.  

He subjectively and erroneously believes that by ganging against the ANC or adopting anti-majoritarian practice he will save UDM from its inevitable demise. However, the brutal and honest truth is that South Africans see Holomisa for what he is, as an arrogant and undemocratic leader who does not respect the right of the workers.

Whilst UDM's parliamentary seats indicate downward spiral, Holomisa has increased his demagoguery and chauvinist rhetoric in a poorly calculated manner. Thus his subjectivity and dishonesty continue to define his illogical and unscientific imagination that he stands a chance of making a dent in the ANC's electoral support.

This will not happen because Holomisa and his cahoots don't offer any new policy direction. Theirs is to shout and opportunistically unite conflicting and unclear ideological political entities based on their hatred for an individual, President Zuma. Their foul cry even before the election process has started is a symbol of weak opposition and acceptance of defeat.

He has been trying so hard to appeal to the Monopoly capital in order to be heavily funded, but he has been ignored because of his track record as a coup leader and his shoddy unscientific economic analyses hence he is frustrated.

His obsession and attack on the ANC and its leadership has been consistent in all the democratic presidents like Mandela, Mbeki, Mothlante and now Zuma. Over the years he has positioned himself as defender of institutions like Scorpions, Public Protector and IEC. He has also been consistently switching tongues in glorifying the former presidents of the nation in order to attack the incumbent.

He opportunistically jumped to the report produced by Advocate Thuli Madonsela on the leasing of IEC building in which some irregularities in the Supply Chain Management were identified. In playing to the public psyche, Holomisa and Malema openly declared their intension to incite a civil war should they dismally perform in the elections as expected.

The history of the Transkei coup wants to repeat itself.  He is questioning the integrity of the IEC so that they can plant seeds for their declared civil war. However, Holomisa and Malema must be warned that South Africans will defend this democracy that Mandela, OR Tambo, Chris Hani, Moses Kotane and many other revolutionaries fought for.

Holomisa can never tell us about democracy while he was part of a system that subjected poor communities of the former Transkei to chicken and dog taxes.  His incitement of violence does not shake us and we will never allow any dictator to reverse our hard won gains.  

Masonwabe Sokoyi is a convenor of ANCYL Dullar Omar RTT and SACP Provincial Spokesperson write in his personal capacity

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