There have been accusations of bias. Yip, The Point has come under criticism for not taking a 'neutral standpoint'. There have been mutterings of an anti-ANC sentiment.

Bias? Yes (against idiocy and arrogance). Anti-ANC sentiment? Not necessarily.

An unfortunate downside of being the biggest and most powerful political party in the country is that (a) you have more politicians mouthing off than any other party and (b) whenever said politicians say something stupid, it will inevitably make the news. That, I'm afraid, is the price of power.

Right. Now that we've cleared that up... on to this week's idiots: Sdumo Dlamini, Ace Magashule and Jacob Zuma.

Ah well, what can I say? It all comes down to statistics...

A GOD COMPLEX

The Bible is full of little guidelines for living. There are those ten big ones — you know, the ones which include: you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbour; and you shall not make wrongful use of the name of God.

And then there's that slightly more obscure commandment that Zuma singled out when explaining that SA is a country of God.

"The Bible says pray for those who are in government. I believe we must go beyond that. You must advise and criticise if there are things we do that are not in keeping with the principles of God."

Well... I hate to state the obvious, but this might be a good time to glance over those commandments again.

The ANC's chaplain general Reverend Vukile Mehana might want to brush up on that commandment which says: you shall have no other gods before me.

"You must know that you are safe. As we prayed for your predecessor, we will continue to pray for you. Don't shake. The God, your ancestors, are here."

Hmm... is he suggesting that God is Zuma's ancestor? Well, that would go some way in explaining ANC provincial leader Ace Magashule's comparison between JZ and JC (Jesus).

"Jesus was persecuted. He was called names and betrayed. It's the same kind of suffering Mr Zuma has had to bear recently, but he's still standing strong. He's not giving up."

And then later:

"There's absolutely nothing wrong with comparisons of this nature. I never said Zuma was Jesus. He can't be Jesus. I merely compared the kind of persecution that had to be endured."

Oh, where do I begin?

Hmm... let's begin with the 'kind of persecution'. Does it involve a flesh-tearing beating? Does it involve a cross? Does it involve a crown of thorns? Does it involve a slow and painful death? No... not exactly. But there are all those nasty newspapers.

Not to mention opposition politicians — Patricia de Lille was quick to dispel any delusions of grandeur with her caustic remark.

"We in the Independent Democrats would like to draw the ANC's attention to the fact that Jesus was never charged with corruption."

THE DICTATOR NEXT DOOR

Following the outbreak of a cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe, Zuma has taken a tougher stance on our unfortunate neighbour.

"The plight and suffering of Zimbabweans is no longer an internal matter, it is now a global matter, it is affecting the region."

Oh, now it's a global (or regional?) matter? Now, when Zimbabwe's dying are limping across the border bringing their nasty diseases into SA we are finally going to think about maybe doing something? Plight and suffering are okay, as long as they don't happen here.

Kudos to Zuma for taking a stance, but the jury is out until South Africa actually does something. Cope's Philip Dexter has a little less faith in the ANC's 'quiet diplomacy' approach.

"From my point of view the only way to solve the Zimbabwe problem at this point is to put enough pressure on Mugabe for him to go. And he should either go voluntarily, or he should go by being forcibly removed. And I think we have to support the Zimbabwean people to achieve that objective."

Agreed.

SAYING ALL THE RIGHT THINGS

The news hasn't been entirely devoid of sense over the past week. Former NPA boss, Vusi Pikoli, may or may not have had certain members of a certain party (which is certainly not victimised in this column) in mind when he made the following statement.

"So we have to be careful how we conduct ourselves, especially if we support certain individuals who might be having problems with the law, so that our conduct and actions are not seen as threatening that independence of the judiciary."

Former ANC spin-doctor Smuts Ngonyama spoke out against blind loyalty at a debate on protecting the Constitution held in Johannesburg.

"Blind loyalty is very, very dangerous. Germany's Nazism, and the Holocaust was because of blind loyalty. The situation in Rwanda was because of blind loyalty."

Smuts goes on to suggest that it was precisely because of blind loyalty that Cope had formed — to fight against "loyalty which does not have a conscience, loyalty which does not listen".

Sage words indeed. Now, if only someone who hadn't acted like Mbeki's personal apologist had uttered them...

IDIOT OF THE WEEK

So many contenders, but in the end I had to settle on Sdumo Dlamini, the president of the Johannesburg branch of Cosatu. Expressing his outrage at the possibility of Cope forming its own politically-aligned trade union, Dlamini spluttered:

"The [Central Executive Committee] agreed that they will never succeed in breaking up our unity and creating an alternative federation, that we should be concerned [about] the potential for violence and disruption in the long term."

Mmm... somebody has been spending too much time with Mr Malema.

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