Julius Malema.
This beligerent little fuck knows a thing or two about the modern South African attention economy. And, I am loathe to say, about the way African politics works.
Be bold – be strong – for the megaphone Malema is with you.
I see Max du Preez beat me to it with “The World According to Malema“. I was more angling for the “Tao of Malema” or a “Guide to South African Politics Narrated by a Raging Asshole and Transcribed by a Racist White Literate Colonialist”. Or something.
*Doffing cap at Max.*
Missed opportunities hey.
The fact of the matter is that this little prick gets the psyche of the proletariat. Fuck it, he gets South Africans.We like big talk. We dig it when someone puffs up and makes bolshy statements about contensious topics. Joe-fucken-Nobodies become instant celebrities overnight. Like a villain in a soapie, we love hating Malema. Malema the rising phe-no-me-naaan.The evil court jester.
The problem is that we live in a time where people seek instant gratification. We prefer simplistic, easily digestable views that are charismatically (or just aggressively) delivered over cogent, well informed ones. And, like goldfish, we seem to have a three-second memory.
Whilst his previous abrasive statements are successively fading in the back of our minds, Julius Malema gradually becomes a validated contrary opinion, a politician frequently quoted by the mainstream media, and, by extension, a political figure with a large, spell-bound audience. All but ready to be mobilised.
If people are watching you, you’re a billboard. And billboard space is worth money.
Whether Julius Malema becomes president or not, in time he will be able to mobilise a large section of society to fuck up Nedbank branches and set fire to private sector property. If his trajectory into public figure-dom continues at this pace, I’d say he could do a hell of a lot more damage. Until then, however, he is still a pawn to be maneuvered around by the ANC, and a very handy potential fall-guy should anything go really tits-up.
But I don’t think Malema’s after power and influence; I think he is just after the money. And if he’s got two braincells to rub together, he’ll find a way of moving from politics into business. He’ll make more money, and the poorest of the poor will suffer less as a result of him not having input into any public policy or debate whatsoever.
Who knows, maybe he could even give back to society by creating some employment opportunities for a family member or two.
But mark my word, when he lists, I’ll be queuing to buy shares. Large numbers of simple people are really confident about his particular brand of shit.
