Elephants are credited with incredibly long memories. I don't know. I have never been able to get inside the mind of an elephant. Not that I would want to, either. I would probably be constantly reminding myself to avoid hunters, which, in practical terms, would amount to compulsive behaviour.
Politicians, on the other hand, are known for their amazingly short memories. Once elected, they can never remember an electoral promise, even if it is written black on white in their electoral manifestos. If reminded of it, they will simply claim that it was meant to be achieved over two terms of office. Vague language allows for this type of circus trick. Or they will offer some other type of lame excuse, like the unforeseen international environment. No wonder so many politicians are lawyers.
Normal people are perhaps a little better, but, nonetheless, very forgetful too. They will remember very well what they did thirty years ago, but can't remember what they had for lunch yesterday or the day before.
Political events that took place in a more distant past are trickier, even for those who lived through them. As they were not privy to what went on behind the scenes, unless some honest historian tells it like it happened, what they retain of it is a partial, thus distorted, view of reality.
Take Nazism. How many people know that Hitler was only able to accomplish his evil intents thanks to a secret agreement he had with Stalin to split up Europe between themselves? Or that many of his military undertakings were only possible with the logistic support of the Soviets? Or that Gestapo officers went over to the Soviet Union to learn how to set up and run concentration camps? Or that the Soviet secret police handed over to the Gestapo the Polish Jews that had fled into the Soviet Union?
There is much in common between Nazism and Communism. Of the many traits, one has to be mentioned. They both believed that, in order to bring forth the new man, you have to kill the old one. Sounds almost pentecostal. The Soviets killed 20 million of their own people. Hitler only managed to exterminate 6 millions Jews before he was finally stopped.
Which brings me to South Africa. Have no doubt that the ANC is nothing but the South African Communist Party in drag. It shares the same ideals that were propounded by Hitler and Stalin: the elimination of the old order before the new order can emerge. The “Kill the boer, kill the farmer” song is not an innocent liberation slogan. It is an official racist policy. What makes Malema such a liability is that he is idiotically saying in public what is being discussed privately. Having withdrawn his bodyguards, the ANC hierarchy hopes that somebody will get rid of him. He has become an embarrassment.
Since the ANC took over the government of the country, thousands and thousands of whites have been murdered under the cloak of crime, some even by thugs wearing police uniforms. It's time somebody recognise it for what it is: genocide.
In the middle of all this, where is the International Criminal Court? I know that the Law is blind. Now I have come to realise it is deaf too.
And while we are at it, why don't we award Mandela a second Nobel prize for peace?
