Lucas Ledwaba
Any self-respecting politician confident of their support base would never try to force a public broadcaster to cover their party’s manifesto launch.
After all, no one in their right thinking mind starts a political party and aim to win seats in Parliament without a trusted support base.
But this is exactly what new kid on the political block Hlaudi Motsoeneng has done. After launching a party with a weird name that sounds like a module from a course in adult basic education, he then did the unthinkable.
The former SA Broadcasting Corporation chief operations officer tried to drag his former employer to court to force the public broadcaster to do a live coverage of his manifesto launch in Durban.
In his mind, Motsoeneng probably had images of roaring masses packing and overflowing from the historic Curries Fountain stadium to hear him map his vision for Mzansi’s future.
But the reality is that Hlaudi is not even a political lightweight. Neither is he a paperweight or straw-weight in this dog-eat-dog game. He’s simply a non-entity punching way above his deluded weight.
While other parties are talking land distribution and job creation, Motsoeneng seems just content enough to have his ego stroked and probably securing himself a high paying parly job for the next five years. But who can trust a man who was late for his own party’s maiden manifesto launch?
While it looks certain this election will be a game of numbers where friend enters into coalition with foe for survival, it is doubtful anyone would risk their image by being caught even gazing in Motsoeneng’s purple overall’s direction.
He has promised in interviews to manage democracy and bring back the rule of law to a country beset by crime and corruption. But who could be brave enough to trust a man who couldn’t run a public broadcaster by vesting in them the power to run a country?
