Dear Editor,
Freedom of expression and freedom of association are two constitutionally guaranteed rights that should always be protected. One of the above deals with the right of the citizen to gather peacefully and express their thoughts and feelings of events and issues in the larger community be they political, social or economical.
The other has to do with your right to speak out on the existent or perceived ills in our society, especially the right of the press to unabashedly keep the public informed with the most truthful and verifiable information. A word often used by my deceased grandfather was incorrigible and back in my pre-teens the word meant the same to me as the man on the moon for none of the two appealed to my playful mind.
But advance that some fifty plus years and it all comes back to me now. Campaign 2016 has kicked off with the usual meet and greets and canvassing. This in itself is nothing new as we have seen this scenario play out so often over the many campaigns and most recently 2014. So the question would be what makes this a reportable affair.
Since 10-10-10 and before there have been rumblings of vote buying and the influx of bad money into the campaigns. Plural is used to indicate that none of the parties were or are exempt from this phenomenon. The picture changed somewhat after election 10-10-10 as the justice department felt they could prove the roomers playing in society and bring the perpetrators to court.
This of course does not occur without the country taking a beating regionally and internationally led by information spread by the Dutch propaganda machine declaring us all corrupt and Mafioso. Many people were investigated and some had their day in court. Some of these cases are yet incomplete because our judiciary believes its proper business to put people’s lives on hold until they find it necessary to follow up on the cases.
These we have seen with the Buncamper case the Labega case and the case of the VKS and police officers and the UP party among others. Intelligent and well-meaning people would try to keep themselves as far as possible from any appearance of this illegal activity. Reasonable and law abiding politicians would make it a definite “faux pas.” As word has it today our politicians are carrying on as usual and the vote buying and promises of favours have started again.
It would seem from word reaching the writer that deals are also being cut on the land Government supposedly acquired for affordable housing which is today being peddled to supporters and foundations set up by members of Government. By all appearances we like to be in the press for all the wrong reasons; we take pleasure in bringing the country down for purely selfish reasons.
As stated the citizen has a right to disagree with the politician, Government or the judiciary with a degree of respect. However, when any action or activity has been proven to be contrary to the laws of the land al efforts should be made to avoid these. People who do not or would not learn from previous missteps by others or themselves are simply incorrigible. And those who believe they are above the law when seeking public office are simply despots and outlaws.
Elton Jones
