Anti-Mashatile campaign exposes fear of authentic black leadership

There's a particular discomfort that grips certain types of racists when a black leader that cannot be easily categorised, controlled or contained emerges.

- Kay Sexwale

Deputy President Paul Mashatile clearly represents this existential threat to South Africa's biased white media, and the barrage of negative media coverage from certain outlets reveals far more about their anxieties than it does about Mashatile's actual record.

What we're witnessing is not mere political journalism or honest analysis, but a coordinated propaganda campaign.

The pattern has become predictable: take a black leader who has grown through the ranks with strong grassroots support, rubbish their achievements, amplify negative, unverified allegations peddled by political rivals, and package it all as "objective analysis". This same playbook was used against leaders from Mandela to Malema, and now Mashatile's is on their radar.

The lack of depth in these attacks becomes obvious when one examines Mashatile's actual trajectory. This is a man who cut his teeth in the trenches of Alexandra's liberation struggles, was imprisoned by the apartheid regime for his activism, and rose through ANC structures, not through patronage but through demonstrated organisational ability. His various leadership roles from MEC in various portfolios and premier in Africa's powerhouse province of Gauteng saw concrete advances in infrastructure, housing and economic development.