Editorial: Zuma guilty of reckless politicking

Political war talk is not unique to South Africa. It is a normal part of political discourse in any society where there is contestation. War talk is designed to display power, to rally the troops and to attempt to mentally defeat opponents. However, in a society as violent as ours, with high levels of intolerance for differing political views, the line between normal political war talk and reckless and dangerous statements is thin. The latter often carries potentially devastating consequences. Today we report on the savage attack of Port Elizabeth man Elridge Williamson, 27, who was assaulted by a group of men wearing ANC T-shirts, in what a witness and friend, Walter Harmse, believes was a politically motivated tragedy. The motive behind the attack can only be conclusively proven by a court of law. However, Harmse’s belief that Williamson was assaulted because he was wearing a blue T-shirt, similar to that of the DA, among a sea of yellow ANC T-shirts, is reasonable. So far, there is no evidence that the group knew Williamson such that they would have had a prior motive to attack him.

Nor is there evidence that he had provoked them in any way. What we know is that without saying much, the group in ANC T-shirts yanked him out of the car and severely assaulted the only person who was wearing a blue T-shirt. For this, these thugs must be hunted down by the police and brought to book. It must also be noted that this incident, while shocking, did not happen in isolation, but within a context of a politically charged environment where tolerance among political opponents is increasingly diminishing. The incident happened just minutes after President Jacob Zuma told supporters that he would crush the opposition, especially with no speaker of parliament to call him to order. And then Zuma said: “I get shocked when I see our people wearing that T-shirt with that colour I’m not going to mention, and I think to myself, eish‚ hard times don’t end.” Granted, it would be disingenuous to suggest that Zuma said this to incite his supporters to attack the opposition. However, he must be held accountable for making reckless political statements that fuel a view that regards association with any opposition as offensive. Such statements undermine the spirit of our democracy and therefore undermine the right to a free and fair election.