Nando’s bends over for Julius

Oh dear. Watch out – here comes a rant. A bad precedent was set today, not just for freedom of speech, but possibly for Nando’s at large, when Nando’s bent over for Julius. Right up the peri-peri bottle neck!

Nando’s, the makers of great flame-grilled, peri-peri chicken and even better satire-filled adverts, made a delightful ad depicting a puppet being a doos. It was quite funny.  The real life character upon who the puppet was based, Julius Malema from the ANC Youth League, reacted like the doos that was depicted and threatened Nando’s with militant action, amongst other things.

It also called Nando’s in for an extra hot peri-peri flame grilling, during which it was commanded decided that Nando’s would immediately douse the flames on its ad and pull it from radio and TV. As if choice was on the menu.

Nevermind Nando’s, your extra hot peri-peri chicken still rocks and I will always love you.

Little Man Syndrome – He did it to himself

Julius Malema made a name for himself during the recent elections by insulting other politicians and calling anything that moved racist. That of course is perfectly acceptable, because he’s a high-up and black. He tagged himself with the puppet lable all by himself when he openly, and with great glee, announced that he was in fact a decoy for the ANC.

Ironically, decoys are often made of wood, for which Julius has an affinity. Although, not a great affinity mind you, as he only achieved 20% in his Matric standard grade woodwork class. Doing badly at school is no laughing matter, but the Nando’s ad is. But, the ANC youth league is a serious bunch and nothing is funny when you’re in the ANC (except how you can’t be prosecuted for crime, that’s quite funny even for them). They felt, even though Julius says he disagreed, that the ad mocked their great (but not in stature) leader.

It was thus unsurprising when Julius called Nando’s ad, using a puppet, racists. Being a product of the post-apartheid era, Julius knows the power of calling something racist.  South Africans are so sensitive to word “race”, that you can declare something a crime by just pointing at it and saying “racist”.  The Race Cops will swoop down and arrest the nearest white person when the word is even mentioned, because like Jessie Duarte implied in her verbal splatter, black people can’t be racist.

But I digress. Julius accused Nando’s of racism saying “in typical racist fashion Nando’s used puppets to depict politicians”.  I have to say; the Nazis, the KKK, even Wouter Bason; I’ve never really noticed them with puppets and I don’t remember the history books mentioning puppets as a tool for perpetuating racial hate. Perhaps I haven’t read History of Racism according to Julius Malema. I’m sure there’s a whole chapter in there about Puppets as the Tools of the Racist Bastard.

Lighten the fuck up!

Julius and the ANC YL, and in fact all South Africans need to lighten the fuck up. It’s 2009 – we’ve come a very long way and we’re at a point where we can look at ourselves and our fellow South Africans, and laugh. Not laugh at each other, but with each other. At our differences, because that’s what makes us the rainbow nation.

Black skin, white skin, brown skin, yellow skin. So fucking what? It’s part of your heritage, it’s part of your identity. You can’t change it, and you’re allowed to be proud of it and so am I. I’m white, I’m balding, I have high cholesterol. When you look at those characteristics it’s a stereotype – it’s hilarious, and I can laugh at myself. Get to know me and you’ll find I don’t quite fit the pigeon hole so well, but the stereotype is still very funny.

That could be true of Julius too – so why not just laugh at yourself Julius and leave our chicken alone!?

Let’s laugh together. And eat more flame grilled extra hot peri-peri Nando’s chicken.