To escape those nauseating TV funeral, insurance and attorney adverts, I allow two minutes before switching on for news on the hour. It works well.

Except a recent case when what I thought was an advert for a latest movie on circuit, was still playing out. It depicted a riot reminiscent of the French Revolution when the public witnessed the action of Madame la Guillotine against the aristocracy. I expected to see tumbrils appearing, carrying its cargo of decapitated heads. It must be a scene from Charles Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities?

Until the camera zoomed onto the faces of the rioters wearing ANC T-shirts.

Unlike the Froggies’ riot that took place in a public place, this mobster meddling happened in the sanctity of a municipal council meeting in eThekwini voting for a mayor. Chairs were upended as the mob descended on the lone speaker cowering behind his microphone. One hooligan brazenly grabbed a mike off the main table, hollering the odds.

An ugly scene, but one we’ve come to expect from the ruffian element. As it is, together with the Ego-Fed Failures, these louts turn parliamentary sessions into brawls, instead of platforms debating the merits of policies benefiting the nation. 

So it should come as no surprise to witness the same hooliganism in Durbs. This is the modus operandi of a failed party. Empty-headed Zuma supporters. How else to describe their uncivilised actions?

And if allowed to continue, our municipalities, instead of addressing poor service delivery, will sink even lower into the garbage. As parties they’ve lost out this time round, and know of only one way to react: disrupt.

A good start would be to bring suspected criminals hiding in both parties to book. Talk about a book. How about a Dickensian sequel, A Tale of Two Tits? These disrupters keep cocking a snook at law enforcement and judiciary. They cheekily make unsustainable promises to the gullible. They belong behind bars, not on public platforms from which they enjoy ongoing media coverage.

It was therefore welcome relief to get back to the TV news reader, despite another insurance advert promising a bright financial future. But it’s probably clever marketing, given the glum mood left after viewing the eThekwini fracas illustrating that our municipalities are in for a rough ride. Bring back the tumbrils, I say. – Response welcome. [email protected]

*The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer, and not necessarily of the publisher , Group Editors.