March against Mmemezi, Mthethwa, and not Brett Murray

A wrong artwork was paraded at the Johannesburg High Court this week. We wasted our breath on an ugly piece of work while we are yet to see Gauteng MEC Humphrey Mmemezi’s artwork bought dishonestly with the taxpayer’s credit card.

What if he is the mysterious buyer of The Spear painting?

If he could so smartly conceal the purchase of the painting as 256 burgers, he could easily represent himself as a German national.

Remember, it is the same chap who, like Houdini, evaporated after his car knocked and shattered the dream of a young boy.

With all his conscience and senses (if he still has any), he swiped the public credit card to buy some fake Chinese suits while we are fixated on a nasty painting.

The ANC unleashed bored military veterans, unemployed professional marchers and lazy cadres to take on a sexually deviant artist called Brett Murray while ignoring those stealing from public coffers.

Why don’t these obsolete veterans march against Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa for using state resources to upgrade his private residence?

Why don’t they march against a director-general who received R1.4 million in kickbacks or take militant action against Julius Malema and his cronies for looting Limpopo?

The real artwork that the country should march and unite against was sold to Mmemezi at McDonald’s.

Will ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe call for the boycott of McDonald’s?

Instead of paying thousands of rand on weeping advocates, the ANC should take political criminals to court to account for theft.

The majority of South Africans – whose dignity and self-worth are wounded by poverty – never heard of Murray or his lowly distasteful trash disguised as art until Jackson Mthembu opened his big mouth.

President Jacob Zuma – a conspiracy theorist of note – must ask Richard Mdluli to check if Mthembu is not on the ABZ (Tokyo Sexwale’s lousy campaign tagline) executive committee.

I am yet to hear Mthembu’s screaming comment on Mthethwa, Mmemezi and other corruption suspects. Why is the country so shaken by Murray’s and not Mmemezi’s painting? Are we easily provoked by artistic obscenity and not corruption?

We dedicate space and time (including in this newspaper – see pages 18 and 19) shielding Zuma, and little on crass corruption – the greatest threat to this country since 1994.

I was inundated with e-mails and calls from analysts, commentators and writers begging to condemn or comment on The Spear, and none volunteered to write about Mmemezi or Mthethwa.

The country had nothing meaningful to say or do for two weeks but debating a cheap painting while we are facing massive poverty.

Youth unemployment is about to explode while Mantashe has opportunistically found a platform to elevate his shaky political career.

Why do we heed Mantashe’s call to march to Goodman Gallery on Tuesday or sing in front of the courts and let Mmemezi get away with our credit card?

Isn’t Blade Nzimande supposed to be fixing higher education instead of rallying political archers to fire at newspapers and artists?

What kind of communist ignores crooks who hurt and humiliate the poor, but devotes his intellectual energy to another man’s manhood?