/ 22 March 2013

Floyd aflutter over Khaya Dlanga’s ‘ventilations’

Floyd Aflutter Over Khaya Dlanga's 'ventilations'

In a column on Politicsweb.org, the suspended ANCYL spokesperson referred to Dlanga as a "hip-hop lyricist" in a tweet on Thursday and added that his blog would post a response to Dlanga's column, "Idols to select the new ANCYL president, perhaps?"

"I normally ignore ventilations of self-proclaimed public intellectuals, who have no tested and academically reviewed work to show their intellectual stature. I ignore these ventilations because I in most instances laugh off the youthful exuberance displayed in the matter in which they write about subjects they know nothing about," wrote Shivambu. 

Dlanga addressed some issues within the youth league regarding the recent news that the ANC's national executive committee disbanded it and used former league president Julius Malema as an example of its failure to implement its own socio-economic policies by saying: "It is difficult to see the youth league ever become what it once was".

In his column, Shivambu attempted to educate the "ignorant newspaper" intellectual on the ins and outs of the league and why the organisation was not a "fake".

He went on to clarify exactly what the organisation did to uplift the youth after Dlanga addressed the issue of Malema's "opulent lifestyle" and the league's apparent disposition of self-gain.

"We didn't blow our won horns, but as an organisation and as individual leaders of the ANC Youth League, we enrolled and ensured the enrolment of many students in the post secondary education and training fraternity – second only to government within the four years of our leadership of the youth league," writes a defensive Shivambu.

'Bloody agent'
To drive his opinion home, Dlanga ended his column with a list of contentious quotes that Malema made to media in the past, such as the infamous incident during which he called the BBC journalist a "bloody agent".

Shivambu then fails at defending Malema's reputation.

"Well I thought that in the process of recollection of quotes and references, Khaya Dlanga will also reflect on the rather disapproving observation of other media outside South Africa." He cited that Malema was "regarded amongst the 10 youngest powerful men in Africa in 2011, and among the 10 he was the youngest" and further discouraged Dlanga's "slight irrations" by saying "Julius Malema was banished, criminalised, and bastardised by authorities like they did with Gramci, Lumumba, Thomas Sankara, Che Guevara, and many other revolutionaries".

"For Khaya Dlanga to reduce a revolutionary to the level of petty, disgusting rhymes tells a lot about who he is, than the revolutionary himself."