Few things are more idiotic than racism and fringe nationalism. The most idiotic thing, of course, is ignorance. However, another pretty idiotic thing is police corruption. And South Africa has a lot of that.

Including cops who can’t read and then lie about it.

A Constable’s ability to read and explain rights to the two people arrested for allegedly killing rightwing leader Eugene Terre Blanche came under the spotlight. Constable Kedibone Mokwele was asked by a defence lawyer in the Mahikeng High Court sitting in Ventersdorp to read a phrase in English and explain it in Setswana. She was unable to do so, prompting defence lawyer Kgomotso Tlouane to say: “Madam, you are pathetic.” [via]

This appeals to my Pythonesque sense of humour. I will understand if you don’t share the same sentiments.

However, I just won’t talk to you again.

A supporter of President Jacob Zuma, with neither a matric certificate nor top management experience is tipped to land the R2 million job as chief operating officer of the financially-crippled SABC.

This after the SABC decided to advertise the strategic, second-most powerful post, only internally, for only three working days.[via]

Just when you thought that the SABC was healing itself, it decides to unravel its own bandages by appointing an inexperienced COO under shady circumstances. (I enjoyed my buddy Mgobhozi‘s take on it.)

However, my logo parody was canned because “nobody got it”. As a cartoonist, it is easy to get encapsulated in my own world where stuff makes sense to me but doesn’t make sense to anybody else. Whether or not that is the case here, I have tossed this cartoon into the Failed Cartoons corner.

Of course, I am not a journalist. What’s funny is that, the closest I have come to studying journalism, is when I – along with the journalism students – once snuck into a journalism lecture.

In case you didn’t know, I somehow won my first (and second) award, last year, for political cartooning. In fact, my last award – for anything – was when I was about ten years old, For chess, I think.

So, you will have to excuse my little bit of vanity.

Contrary to Pythonesque belief, goldfish have a memory-span of longer than seven seconds.

Goldfish have a memory-span of at least three months and can distinguish between different shapes, colors and sounds. By using positive reinforcement, goldfish can be trained to recognize and to react to light signals of different colors or to perform tricks.[via]

Evidently, the forgetful goldfish over at Aurora can’t distinguish anything from anything, let alone be trained to react or perform.

In hindsight, I could have drawn the car guard a bit better. A few who have seen this cartoon (either online or in the Sunday Times) thought that the guy is a cop which, of course, renders the gag useless.

These things happen from time to time. (Cartooning blunders, that is; not aliens being charged for parking their spaceships.)