Suitcase and blazer in hand, the man walks up to the airport information desk and, in an authoritative manner, demands to board a flight - for which he is late - to Cape Town. The clerk tries to tell him that the plane has left and that she could arrange a later flight.
But the man wants none of this and says: "This is a business class ticket. Do you know who I am?"
This is the scenario of a popular television advert where the clerk takes mild revenge on the arrogant man and announces over an intercom: "Ladies and gentlemen. May I have your attention, please? There's a gentleman here who doesn't know who he is. If anyone is able to assist him, please report to the information desk urgently."
Continues Below ↓
Clever! But this isn't how things work in reality. Some of our leaders use this tactic when in hot water, and instead of being reprimanded, they are treated with kid gloves. They receive the kind of treatment that ordinary citizens can only dream of after any wrongdoing.
George Orwell, in his book Animal Farm, says: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." And in the case of Ekurhuleni metro police chief Robert McBride, former commissioner of correctional services Linda Mti and Pretoria High Court Judge Nkola Motata, it begs the question whether South Africa is being run like Mr Jones's farm.
Mti allegedly used the same words as the advert - "Do you know who I am?" - after he smashed into Abe Mashile in November.
Mashile told the Saturday Star that Mti had been so drunk that he fell to the ground and slept until the police arrived. He was let off on a warning and hasn't appeared in court.
The Mail & Guardian reported how Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs Lulama Xingwana "hijacked" a seat on a South African Airways flight in April last year.
Continues...
|
StumbleUpon
Reddit
Digg
Delicious
Newsvine
Facebook
muti
Twitter
