Post-truth? In the post-lie era, ANC doesn’t even try to deceive
So destructive is the ANC it has even broken the art of lying. In one form or another, lying has been and always will be an integral part of politics, as it is in a great many other professions. In sophisticated, modern democracies it is typically a complex business. A good lie is difficult to detect, hidden in jargon and surrounded by ambiguity or vagueness. Identifying a lie for what it is usually requires some work and knowledge. Think, for example, of Thabo Mbeki, HIV and AIDS. That wasn’t on face value your run-of-the-mill, bald-faced falsehood. Mbeki’s dissembling required the whole of the scientific community to mobilise in order to separate for the public fact from fiction. Essays were written, sophisticated debate flowed. And Mbeki himself believed he was right, even if he would torture logic to get there. He was personally invested in the game. But today we have bumbling fools, like State Security Minister David Mahlobo saying, "Mcebo Dlamini has not been to my house", onl...
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