Last night South African president Jacob Zuma held his 10th State of the Nation address. The man has had his fair share of controversies. For instance, he was elected president after being acquitted on rape charges, he was then charged with 783 criminal charges and it was then determined by our constitutional court that he had broken his oath of office when he spent R246m (more than $18m) of the taxpayers money to build himself, his five wives, his children, and grandchildren, a luxury estate that would definitely pass as a holiday resort.
Yesterday was his opportunity to report on the country’s progress and shortcomings. Many political parties staged a walk out and The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) were violently removed for echoing that they felt “a criminal shouldn’t address the nation” – EFF leader Julius Malema.
While South Africa was still recovering from that, AKA, one of South Africa’s best-selling rappers decided to chip in with his two cents. Check his tweets below.
Corruption & politics go hand in hand pah … just is what it is. GO GET YOURS!!!! Work hard, mind your business & MAKE YOUR MONEY.
— AKA (@akaworldwide) February 9, 2017
Think of corruption as our very own system of wealth redistribution. You put your n*ggas on, your n*ggas put THEIR n*ggas on. Jigga.
— AKA (@akaworldwide) February 9, 2017
AKA’s come up is admirable, after his rap group ‘Entity’ broke up, he continued hustling, gradually rising to fame and has made a lot of money. AKA is a rapper whose lyrics range from women to his lavish lifestyle and his achievements, so naturally, I don’t look to him for advice on the social, economic and political constraints of black people like I would perhaps to rappers like Nas and Kendrick Lamar but when he normalized political corruption, I realized that the man has zero consciousness and he was “just a rapper” (an average one in my opinion) and not a lawyer or Oxford graduate like his former Entity group mates for a reason.
I wouldn’t expect to hear his voice in the realm of social issues but he imposed his voice on his fans. He imposed his intellectual bankruptcy on his fans and as it happens with many celebrities who’ve used their twitter accounts to drop unenlightened knowledge, some of his disillusioned loyal fans agreed with him. Encouraging people (a majority of which are black and still face oppression on an institutional level, still live in poor or working class conditions, still face financial economic exclusion) to not hold their government accountable because political corruption is normal and they should mind their own business has undoubtedly earned him a spot on my personal list of rappers not worth my time.
AKA’s statements are highly problematic because he lives in a country where people are still suffering from the consequences of Apartheid and colonialism. People who are still deprived of equal opportunities as their white counterparts. Even though those people pay taxes, AKA is telling them that it’s okay if black leadership abandons you, go find jobs that aren’t there and make money from thin air. I don’t even think that he’s coming from a point of privilege, I think he’s coming from ignorance. He has no idea that governments are there to serve the people and the people have every right to question them and hold them accountable. He single-handedly tried to erase years of constitutional laws, the South African Bill of Rights (which was founded in 1992), which talks about the democratic values of our country and other legislation that allow the people to be protected from corruption and ill-harm by the state. AKA unwittingly denounced the idea of democracy which what our country’s independence was founded on.
He has no idea that governments are there to serve the people and the people have every right to question them and hold them accountable. He single-handedly tried to erase years of constitutional laws, the South African Bill of Rights (which was founded in 1992), which talks about the democratic values of our country and other legislation that allow the people to be protected from corruption and ill-harm by the state. AKA unwittingly denounced the idea of democracy which what our country’s independence was founded on.
Now AKA is not completely indifferent to the plight of the less fortunate, he’s done some charity work in the past, but that doesn’t make him smart, it doesn’t make him aware of the struggles of the masses. It, in fact, doesn’t mean anything if he’s cringe-worthily unaware of real issues like why the majority of his population is living in poverty. How come they vote but don’t get service delivery? If we are truly free why don’t black people have land? He walks into those situations with a distorted worldview and as a result, he knows little to nothing about deep rooted societal issues.
AKA seriously needs to read a book or two about social consciousness if he wants his voice to be valued in social and political issues. If all else fails, he can at least google ‘What is the South African government’s job’?
