Youth hooliganism poisons democracy

EDITORIAL | Tuesday November 18, 2008 00:00

It is not clear whether the elders in those parties have abdicated governance to the increasingly unruly youth; or are they just feigning helplessness. Such cases are clearly evident in South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe.

During the liberation wars, it made sense to tap on the youth's militancy since they had the required energy to execute the struggle. However, with the attainment of independence and democracy, one would have expected the liberation movement to redirect those youthful energies into a development force. Unfortunately, however, party elders have now tended to use the youth to fight intra-party political wars.

Since the former liberation movements transformed themselves into gravy trains, so too have the youth harnessed the governing parties for material gain. The louder, obscene and uncultured one is, the better the prospects of being welcomed aboard the gravy train.

The ZANU-PF youth's violent and blood-curdling record in Zimbabwe in the past decade is well documented. It continues unabated in that failed state.

It is for this very reason that rogue behaviour among the political youth in Namibia and South Africa is worrisome. A few years ago, when the ruling SWAPO in Namibia broke up that party's youth became increasingly more powerful. They are above the law.

They do not only verbally assault the members of the breakaway parties, specifically the Congress of Democrats (CoD) and the Rally for Democracy Party (RDP), denying their political opponents the right to hold rallies in what they consider their strongholds, but they also at times employ violence to break up their rallies.

In South Africa that trend is increasingly gaining currency under the acerbic ANC youth leader, Julius Malema. The young man has literally become a terror to erstwhile comrades who left the ANC following Thabo Mbeki's 'recall'. We hope our own ruling BDP Youth, which has been hobnobbing with the likes of Malema and his crew, will not be tempted to imbibe their undemocratic culture.

The merits and demerits of Mbeki's administration aside, the ANC dissidents must be allowed to freely and openly sell themselves to the electorate.

The onus is on the electorate to judge whether the alternative to the ANC or SWAPO dissidents' offer is credible.

That is what democracy is all about. And obviously, these former liberation movements fought for the realisation of the very democracy.

                                                   Today's Thought

All the efforts of violence are powerless to weaken truth, and serve only to make it stronger.

                                                    - Blaise Pascal