The juvenile mud slinging has got to stop……

I appreciate that everyone has the right to free speech, and that we all have our own opinions, built on years of experience and different upbringing, but we have to get rid of the playground politics.

We need to see an end to the juvenile mud slinging that pervades the landscape and keep the real issues at the forefront.

In the time that Manuel and Manyi commandeered the headlines with their spat about the “overconcentration of coloureds” in the Western Cape. Many vastly more important and meaningful political interactions could have happened.  Airing one’s feelings is all well and good, but if you cannot do this in the correct forums then you are demeaning your own organisation.  This is true of both of these individuals, in the case.  Manyi acted inappropriately in what he said and Manuel equally acted inappropriately by writing an open letter.

I can see how the ruling party would want to chastise him for writing the open letter as it threatens to widen the already growing rifts in the party.  It may also have caused the party more damage in the Western Cape (not a bad thing I might add) and they will more than likely loose further ground here as a result.

What is more important though, and the point of my post, is that this interaction is symptomatic of many interactions that happen in our political landscape. It points to the fact that our democracy is currently one of personalities, rather than one of principles.  We have elected people (and I use we on purpose) who like the lime-light and they would choose this over being effective.

I know that politics has to, in some respects, incorporate strong personalities, but the current political mixture is skewed far too much in favour of fame over delivery.  I hope that as people approach the upcoming municipal elections, that they seriously look at the service delivery issues around them. In addition I hope that they take hold of the fact that they are able to make a difference by voting. We need to see the politicians held accountable for their promises and voting is one of the ways that we can collectively achieve this.

 I hope that we see some change during this election time and I truly hope that all of the parties involved seek to put candidates into the breach that are above reproach. People they will serve their constituents over themselves.