TONY LEON: If Helen Zille did this, she would be arrested for treason
'If Zille did a Zwelithini, she would likely be arrested for treason or sedition, and her government would be placed under national administration'
EXTRACT
Do not for one single moment imagine that Ramaphosa would go on bended knee before Zille; or that the minister of local government and traditional affairs would hastily announce that whatever final outcome parliament would arrive at, the citizens of the Western Cape would be exempt from its provisions.
But, more or less that was the outcome when the King of the Zulus threatened secession. The Ingonyama Trust was described by Barney Mthombothi as “a lucrative money-making scheme for (King) Zwelithini ... at worst it is a state within a state: (Zwelithini) controls the land, people pay taxes to him.”
But after his imbizo threatened to pull out of the country, or declare war, he was given a free pass: whatever the outcome of the current debate on land reform and expropriation, King and Trust would be exempt from the new deal.
Jerry Brown enjoys many distinctions in political life. He is both the oldest (at 80) governor of California and, 44 years ago, was also one of the youngest incumbents (36). The gap between his last stint, which ended in 1983, and his current tenure, which concludes at year end, allowed him to contemplate governance and its limits. One recent piece of wisdom he offered might be of some practical application here at home, as our government contemplates its own array of challenges and crises. Brown said in a recent interview: “Politicians are usually obliged to pretend that that they can command the sea to part when they can only really surf on the waves ... The economy is the most important thing, and it’s the thing we can’t control.”It might be that since Brown is term-limited from seeking re-election, he can speak truth to his own power, or rather the lack of it. But bear in mind that the mighty state of California, if it were to separate from the US, would constitute, as a stand-a...
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