Why is the ANC in love with China?

Let me start off by saying that I am not a political analyst or commentator, nor do I have some degree in political science. These are purely my opinions, so naturally I think they’re pretty accurate!

So the Dalai Lama has cancelled his trip to South Africa due to “visa problems”. Despite what many think, this is not some spiteful attempt to be douche bags or a show of power from Zuma and his cronies. This is in fact a shrewd political move to align ourselves closer to China. For those of you who don’t know, basically China hates the Dalai Lama’s guts because years ago he told Chairman Mao that his hat made him look fat... And that is all true, except for the part about the hat. The real reason China doesn’t melt at the sound of the Dalai’s sweet soft voice like the rest of the world does is because, well, they’re assholes. In a nutshell, with the Dalai Lama being the spiritual leader of Tibet, Chinese communists under Chairman Mao invaded Tibet around 60 years ago and basically massacred the population, and until today they torture inhabitants and maintain them in the most abject living conditions. Now bear in mind that these Tibetan people are Buddhists, probably the most peaceful, humble, and nicest people you will ever meet. So in order to be China’s little bitch, one cannot be mates with the Dalai Lama, hence the refusal to grant him a visa to visit our country to attend Archbishop Tutu’s birthday party and deny the country a chance to see a spiritual leader who actually practices what he preaches.

But why China? Why is our government so obsessed with not pissing the Chinese off? Apart from the fact most “Proudly South African” products are actually produced in China, and the obvious current investment China has in South Africa, this is more a strategic move for the future. Due to the ongoing worldwide economic crisis, the balance of power is shifting. Once this is all over, the superpowers of the past (USA, UK, etc.) will no longer be the superpowers of the future. The economic power will move east, specifically to countries like India, and of course, our communist friends in China. Aligning ourselves with them could make South Africa a mini economic superpower in itself. That is all very good and well, but getting too close to China, and the way the ANC has been conducting themselves in the last few years, I can’t help but feel more than a little nervous about this alliance...

Before we forget, China is still a communist country, at least politically anyways, and I’ve always felt that the ANC are a communist party dressed in democrats clothing. Apart from the fact that they screw everyone else over whilst continually lining their own pockets and the fact that they all refer to each other as “comrade”, there are other signs. A few examples of cornerstones of democracy being made a mockery of by the ANC include freedom of speech (Protection of Information Bill), equal voting (constant voter intimidation), equal treatment of all citizens (BEE, men being thrown in jail and charged with criminal assault for NEARLY spilling a drink on the president), nationalization and illegal land reforms (funnily enough even China has ditched nationalization for the most part, tells you something about its effectiveness) and most importantly, the disregard for the constitution (Zuma getting his boy in to the Constitutional Court so he can manipulate decisions... watch this space).

So when one puts this all together, I can’t help but feel that our government has a bit of a hard-on for China, and want to base their governance model on that of China’s... And I’m not sure how comfortable I am with that, in fact, I hate the idea. I don’t care how successful China become, that success only benefits a few under communism, and the have-nots end up having even less. I also do not want to be aligned with a country that so savagely murders innocent people for no other reason than pure hate. Imagine you have a nice piece of land somewhere in sunny SA and next thing some guys rock up and say, “Terribly sorry old chap, but we’re going to brutally kill you now and take your land while our leaders sing about us killing you!” That would be a sad day in this country... Oh wait, what’s this? A newspaper? “Another Brutal Farm Murder”... hmmm, wonder what that’s all about then...