I have to admit that I am rather disappointed in our politicians. A week of juicy politicking passed and... well... everyone was rather well-behaved.

Sure, our new president may have failed the Pikoli test and the ANC may have tried to sabotage the by-elections, but, really, the reactions were so dry. No animal insults; no religious comparison; no Malema; and no subtle threats of violence.

Ah well, I guess that sometimes you just have to take the reasonable with the ridiculous. One politician, at least, did not disappoint.

MOTLANTHE IN A PIKOLI

Poor Motlanthe, he had to make a tough call on the Pikoli matter — on Side A the route of Justice; on Side B the mighty ANC. Maybe he flipped a coin.

Jumping on the national security loophole, Motlanthe justified his decision by pointing out that, although Pikoli had been found competent and fit for office by the Ginwala Commission "it should be noted that the requisite skills would necessarily include competence as well as those outlined by the inquiry, in particular appreciation for, and sensitivity to, matters of national security."

But fret not, because Mr President has assured us that: "I've taken this decision with a clear conscience."

Mmm... I wonder why he felt that disclaimer was necessary.

Somewhat less impressed with his decision, opposition parties got all hot and sweaty about him picking Side B decision. The predictable outburst from the DA went like this:

"As such, Motlanthe has failed the first real teat of his Presidency, which was to put South Africa's interests before the narrow interests of the Zuma faction of the ANC."

Seriously, now they're just being unreasonable.

Stamping his authority on the Presidency, Motlanthe 'failed' his second test when he rejected a call by Desmond Tutu, FW de Klerk and various academics to open an inquiry into the controversial arms deal. His explanation:

"Government has always maintained that if anyone has information implicating individuals in the arms deal, then that person should forward such information to law enforcement agencies."

Ja, right. Because that's been working so well up until now.

Inter-party squabbling is bound to increase with the looming prospect of elections. The ANC, which has been investing inordinate amounts of energy into stalling the launch of Cope, brushed off suggestions that they were obsessed with the new party.

The ANC "is not preoccupied with the gang of three who have left the ANC," said Gwede Mantashe.

Now, if only they would apply that lack of preoccupation to the things that really matter. The words 'service delivery' come to mind.

Like all South African opposition politicians, IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi is pretty preoccupied with the chaps in the ANC.

"I would like to cite the two events of 2008 that are definitive in the ANC losing its head. The first is the month of xenophobic attacks on black non-South Africans, where the South African government was totally incapable of declaring meaningful condemnation and taking speedy action. The second is the government's squeamish impotence to act against the tyranny of Robert Mugabe."

Squeamish impotence. What a delightful phrase (admittedly, however, not one that can be easily applied to Mr Zuma).

Proving that they are not always antagonistic, the DA awarded several members of the Cabinet high scores in their annual report card. Among those complimented by the DA, was new Health Minister Barbara Hogan, who scored eight out of ten.

"Minister Hogan has wasted no time in rejecting Aids denialism, opening up communication links with civil society and working to restore some sense of order to a department which had lost all coherence."

Well, she did have a hard act to follow.

BUILDING A BETTER SA

Travesties of justice notwithstanding, our politicians are all committed to building a better South Africa. How do I know this? Because they said so.

"In 1994 we destroyed the edifice of apartheid, in 2009 and beyond we must destroy the cancer of abuse of our women and children," said Motlanthe at a closing ceremony for the '16 days of no violence against women and children' campaign.

"We cannot build this nation and make it formidable if we don't deal with the question of unemployment, production and education," argued Cope's Smuts Ngonyama.

"We will make sure that the public service is de-politicised... the men and women who will be appointed to run the administration of government will be appointed on the basis... that they have the best skills and expertise," declared Terror Lekota.

Promises, promises. Next up: ending global poverty and bringing about world peace.

IDIOT OF THE WEEK

And the honour goes to... Jessie Duarte.

Having failed to register their candidates for the Cape Town by-elections with the IEC in a timely manner, the ANC thought it appropriate to whine about their exclusion.

"The ANC is concerned that voters in the Cape Metro are being denied their right to vote for a candidate of their choice based on a technical problem within in the IEC," said Jessie Duarte.

And by 'technical problem' she means laziness/arrogance/disorganisation, and by 'the IEC' she means ANC.

On the positive side, the IEC seems rather robust.

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