The two young politicians - retrogrades really, are portrayed as the real Bad Boys III stars Marti Lawrence and Will Smith: Brash, crash and loud in their demands - at least the BDP leadership appears to see them as such. Yet, like the real movie stars in the real movie, they are liked, no, revered by their audience. While in the Bad Boys III Will Smith and Martin Lawrence return, as suave cop Casanova Mike Lowrey and his angst family man partner Marcus Burnett have the ineviable task of busting an illicit ecstasy import business run by Cuban nasty Johnny Tapia (Jordi Molla), Motswaledi and Ntuane have an equally unenviable task of busting a BDP whose affairs have become as dangerous to democracy as ecstasy is to the human body. The catchy tagline 'the rise of the Indiscipline', in the satirical artwork is in reference to the duo's dissidence and opposition to President Ian Khama's 'Discipline' philosophy as envisioned in his famous Five Ds leadership philosophy. Ntuane stood with his party colleague, suspended BDP secretary general Motswaledi in his (Motswaledi's) court battle with party president Khama. And like the 'Bad Boys' that they are the creator of the artwork brings to the 'viewer' the whole Khama - BDP versus Motswaledi-Ntuane saga. In Bad Boys III the movie starts with a gunfight at a Ku Klux Klan rally - well maybe not really exactly similar to the Mogoditshane meet of the delegates, and culminates with a quick draw at Guantanamo Bay. There is lead and sulphur all the way hail of lead, punctured by buddy banter - not very dissimilar to that ongoing between Barata-Phathi and the BDP and yes gross-out interludes - corpses obliterated on the freeway. How many 'corpses' will there be in the movie that has become Barata-Phathi and BDP? The problems are more of principle - so have those that promise to give birth to a new party. Police brutality runs as a funny theme and there is much humour on sexuality. That surely is nothing that the Barata-Phathi would fail to bring as a complaint to the powers that be. And they have. The real Bad Boys movie, is funny, but it outstays its welcome in the final half hour. Nonetheless, the audience still accept that 30 minutes of over-indulgence - and still want more of the two actors! Barata-Phathi have been saying that they are forming a party. Will the audience indulge them in the same way as the stars are in the movie. As can be expected in a political battle, satirists often have a field day and treat the reader to their wit. One such is The Monitor cartoonist Billy Chiepe. He recently outdid himself in recreating the Domkrag troubles. On the cartoon was a group of people in a party drinking and smoking with characters named DJ Sid and DJ Ntu on the decks, spinning the disks.
'The party lovers" (Barata-Phathi) are dancing to the tunes of the two DJs. But lo, a gigantic fist spoils the party as it lands on the Dj's table, breaking their machines and CD. So yet again Ntuane is portrayed by the cartoonist as a 'bad boy' - at least from the point of view of the owner of the fist. He really has been a pain this Ntuane. When bar operators and alcohol industry players cried foul over tax increase, he was the loudest of legislators to condemn the new government policy. On the other hand, Khama has gone around in his kgotla meetings explaining that alcohol is the root of many social vices. It is this whole debate and BDP bickering that Chiepe so well captures in his cartoon.
