Thomas Johnson - The Blog

Part 2 of Bonfire of vanities: limp-wristed liberals burn public protector at the stake. This brings me to the John Maythams et al, the limp-wristed liberals gunning for the public protector Busisiwe Mkwebane. Their irritating sanctimony is partly derived from the fact they’re of the class of mostly educated white liberals in academia and media who aggressively display their civil rights principles as a challenge to anyone who might think otherwise or less of them. Their black and brown peers share this trait but one already thinks of them as leftwing and their attitudes are expected. The other part is they think they know everything, that only they can address the world’s big questions. They’re really to the left and not true centre liberals. Theirs is not a modest, tempered liberalism, but leftwing zealotry. While they purportedly espouse liberal principles of freedom of speech, association and the fearless and fair application of the law, they brook no opposition if their worldview,...

The limp-wristed liberal brigade is once again frothing at the mouth and sharpening their pitch forks to burn public protector Busisiwe Mkwebane at the stake. This follows the referral of charges against her to Parliament’s justice committee last week for an inquiry into her alleged conduct. On Tuesday March 16 on his CapeTalk show just before the 5pm news, host John Maytham opined on the news topic, “of course there should be an inquiry into the public protector”. I emailed him I was not surprised he’s part of the Salem-type witch hunt along with the media and so-called analysts like media darling “constitutional law expert” Pierre de Vos. De Vos is one of the PP’s critics and among those who started the vendetta. On his platforms – his blog Constitutional Speaking and Daily Maverick – where he’s prolific rather than peer-reviewed journals[1], he offered quasi-legal opinions why she ought to be kicked out of office. This despite allegations against her being slim and based on biased...