by Koert Meyer
Our so-called official opposition got out of the starting blocks at the dawn of our democracy without a proper strategy, let alone a Plan B should their misdirected, dishonest plan fail.
And here we are now, after six general elections with intervals of five years, 14 parties in Parliament, 13 hell-bent on unseating an insurmountable “Goliath” party, the “shadow government” not even halfway to being a threat to the party that liberated all of us with the sacrifice of so many lives.
This happens when one digs graves for others, soon to fall into them oneself.
If this party hoped to ever govern our country, those hopes are dashed every day as it stumbles along from one scandal to another.
The latest is the Palestinian matter. Four parties quickly threw their weight in with the underdog’s struggle since we were in the same position fighting and eventually defeating a monstrous Frankenstein.
However, our country will still try to broker peace wherever conflict rears its ugly head, as our record shows.
This wolf in sheep’s clothing finds itself wandering once again simply because it parades to please all ethnic groups all of the time, but actually fooling them to their own demise.
All the recent by-elections proved that this pitiful party’s days are numbered, the writing is crystal clear on the wall, but will it do the honourable thing as the National Party did when its Waterloo caught up with it? There comes a time when the truth and reality catch up with those who mess around with people’s fortunes.
Our electorate is maturing all the time and the poor opposition parties led by their own “Goliath” will find themselves in the frosty wilderness for many many years to come.
So far they’ve all tried all manner of devious strategies to seize power with top of that costly list endeavouring “to govern through the courts”.
Another of their critical mistakes when referring to our government, even today, is when addressing members of the governing party, they cynically call it “your” government instead of “our” government.
The question arises which government did their Tony Leon, Sheila Camerer, Richard van der Ross, Douglas Gibson and others represent when they accepted ambassadorial posts.
Is this party secretly supporting a secessionist Western Cape since it is holding back on so many issues.
It is such a pity that this little big party has robbed us of a truly democratic order, if it had only accepted Madiba’s invitation in 1994 to help govern our newborn country instead of pursuing its own narrow interests landing itself in the doldrums.
* Koert Meyer, Welgelegen.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
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