Shut these hotheads up!

OVER the past month there have been increasingly disturbing signs that political tension is reaching boiling point in some parts of the country in the run-up the general election and it is time for maturity and cool heads to prevail to ensure this does not bubble over into violence. No one could ever accuse ANC Youth League president Julius Malema of being either mature or of having a cool head. On the contrary, this not-so-youthful acolyte of ANC president Jacob Zuma is a loose cannon who, with his inflammatory rhetoric and populist claptrap, has done his party irreparable harm and continues to do so virtually every time he opens his mouth.

For a time it seemed as if the party had managed to pull him into line following the outrage caused by his now infamous comment that he would “kill for Zuma”.

However, it appears Malema is on the loose again and has now become involved in a spat with the equally irresponsible leader of the IFP Youth Brigade, Thulasizwe Buthelezi. If this was simply an issue of two immature hot heads swopping insults it would be of little importance.

But it‘s not. The dangerous little game Malema and his IFP counterpart are playing has the potential to break out into whole-scale violence in KwaZulu Natal where there has been a history of bloody strife between the two parties.

Malema has inflamed tensions by vowing to lead ANC supporters into the troubled IFP stronghold of Nongoma to campaign and even recruit the children of IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi. The response from IFP Youth leader is no less inflammatory promising Malema he would be “sorry” if he did so and threatening that “what the ANC has seen so far is a Sunday school picnic compared to what is to follow if they continue to provoke, insult and harass the IFP and its leader.”

This childish baiting and counter-baiting can only help to exacerbate tensions in trouble spots like Nongoma and it is time that the leaders of both parties stepped in to bring some calm to this volatile situation.

There has been enough bloodshed in this country and the last thing the nation needs is for there to be a return to the conflict of the 1990s between the ANC and IFP which cost dozens of lives.

Political intolerance and inflammatory rhetoric only serves to endanger lives and threaten the prospects of a peaceful, free and fair election.

Duminy now a hot property

IMPRESSIVE new South African cricketing sensation JP Duminy must be pinching himself and wondering when he will awake from the most pleasant dream of his life.

What a time it has been for this talented young man. His life and cricketing career have been transformed irrevocably simply because he grabbed a chance when it was offered him.

When Duminy embarked on the Protea‘s tour to Australia late last year he would, with some justification, have expected little game time and none in the all- important Test matches. But then came that injury to Test regular Ashwell Prince and Duminy got his chance. He has not looked back since and even the notoriously one-eyed Australian cricket commentators were hailing Duminy as a batting prodigy and likening him to such greats as Brian Lara and Sir Garfield Sobers.

Whether he ever reaches the heights those batting legends managed remains to be seen. But for now at least, JP Duminy is a hot property.

This was evident when bidding for him in the lucrative Indian IPL circus reached a mammoth $950000 – considerably more than the base price of $300000. This has made Duminy a wealthy young man with a promising career ahead of him. We only hope that the mental strength he has shown at the crease will enable him to cope with the fame he has earned in such a short time.

Opinion