Arnold Theron
In her editorial – published ahead of the State of the Nation address – Valkin urged President Jacob Zuma to be forthright in his address and not gloss over the serious problems besetting South Africa and “cheerfully wade through a speech of smiling platitudes”.
She also predicted the “usual disruptive antics from the enfant terrible Julius Malema and his cohorts”.
Sifrin urged South Africans to “beware the seduction of populist thugs”, wise words in the light of the appeal that the image of a beleaguered president cowering before the EFF leader would have – willy-nilly – for many.
Throughout their history, the Jews (and I am a gentile observer) have suffered the effects of thuggery used for nefarious ends, and a sober warning against what “could” happen here is timeous; the warning has the ring of prophetic truth.
Lyndhurst, Johannesburg
