Swazi Observer

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YES...IT IS NEWS THAT AN EX-MP BUYS â€˜LUXURYâ€™ CAR!

By Macford Sibandze | 2019-09-18

Social media and the ‘media of gossip’ was abuzz with the story of an ex-Mp who bought a top of the range car; brand new from the box.

The debate was that, according to them, it is not news and even if it is ‘news’, it is not newsworthy.

This story was covered by this newspaper and had headlines all over the country. As a media practitioner and a critical analyst, the debate would not have escaped my attention.

Let me start by saying BRAVO to the editor; the story is 101 per cent news and worth reporting. I will qualify this later.

This story has a historical legacy that qualifies it to be news.

When a politician loses elections it is END GAME. Because that is a TERMINATION of the five-year CONTRACT that drastically changed his life. Worse, as a politician, he is not in any other job but in a job that has so many expectations.

One of the expectations is that he attains STATUS in society. And this comes with a heavy price to pay. Politics is a profession; a job just like any other job. For five years he has been in gainful employment with a salary every month. After end of term he goes for election to procure a new tender for a job. AND HE LOSES.

LOSES

He does not only lose a job. He loses a face; a profile; a bargaining power. And the SKY FALLS on top of him as he loses STATUS.

This is a life of a politician and the trend is the same in many parts of Africa. I know this practically.

Just last week I dined with three ministers in different meetings from a country I won’t mention and they were telling me that they were proposing a 100 000 Dollar (1.5 million rand) handshake after term of office.

They have benchmarked this with Kenya where politicians are taken care of compared to many parts of Africa.

NEWS AND THE EX-MP?

To interrogate the topic in discussion we have to understand what news is all about. I don’t mind if a Professor of Media can dismiss this story as not newsworthy; that’s his opinion anyway; mine is that this story is news and the public deserves it. Two things that make this story news; EX and EXPENSE.

The ‘EX’ has a historical legacy as I mentioned above.

Had I not travelled extensively in Africa I would have made too much reference to Eswatini about the state of ex-politicians; their lives outside politics.

Fortunately, I have travelled. In just two weeks I have been to three African countries; Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia; where I mingled; engaged; many hours; with ministers, Mps; EX and Present.

GLARING

What is glaring in all these countries is that politics leave many in ruins; dump them in the dustbin of history or at worse, bury them in shallow graves.

Many join politics well off and leave empty-handed.

Unlike CEOs and other dignitaries; elected politicians spend their money with the electorate who ‘employed’ them; funerals, weddings, school fees, soccer games; the list goes on and on.

Yet the social enterprise count for nothing COME ELECTIONS TIME.

In Eswatini, since 1993 direct representation, 80 per cent Mps lose elections. With the full blown fiscal crisis it looks scary. And when I say the obvious there “he goes with his MACFORDISM.” Yet God gave me the ability to see things that people do not see.

I wrote in this very newspaper that Donald Trump would win.

Others thought I needed help from the mental sanatorium. But I stood my ground even when a renowned prophet ‘prophesied’ that Hillary would win.

Sometimes I have stubborn faith and it is easy to fathom; my grandmother from the side of my mother; Edith Groening was a German. I am not saying anything.

EX WITH AN X-FACTOR

After attending to the needs of the community in the five years; spend money in elections; and LOSE. Where do you go; to the BOTTOMLESS PIT OF DESPAIR. So if any ex elected Mp can rise from these ruins of politics then he has an X-FACTOR.

And it is the role of the media to shine this light; to INSPIRE those who want to ASPIRE not EXPIRE dreams as the media often does.

The media is a business which sells news as a commodity.

Who doesn’t like stories of an EX politician who is DOWN and OUT?

But now the media has a story that shifts thinking and want aspirants to emulate this politician with nine lives. You just wonder what makes him tick because life after losing elections is FREEZING COLD. NO SAUNA! NO STEAM!

EDITOR

So why don’t we PRAISE THE EDITOR for a story that brings HOPE. How many headlines have we come across that scream BOITY BUYS TOP OF THE RANGE BEEMER or BONANG BUYS BEEMER FOR COUSIN? Lots! And we enjoy them. But when the media writes about our own we complain. Is this not a cynical contradiction?

Or we want the EDITOR to publish stories of ex-Mps who hitch hike or at worse; who travel on public transport; so that we expand the footprint of our gossiping. Not this time around; Thanks to the EDITOR; we have something positive to talk about an ex-politician; in bars and salons.

EXPENSE

Again, this is not just a story about an Ex-politician buying a car that has seen better days; battered or brand new second hand. NO! The Mp goes for the jocular and buys a car that is expected of people who eat LIZAMBANE LAMPONDO by our standards.

My gosh; this is the same car the minister was driving in this country I won’t mention as I waited for him. We had a one-hour friendly discussion inside the car in the evening. Don’t laugh... this is Africa; meetings can be held in cars. But this is a sitting minister with two terms so it is not news that he rides on this car. Back home, an ex-Mp, who lost elections after spending too much money; buys a luxury car. If this is not news then all my lecturers should bury their heads in shame.

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