There goes South Africa?

"All I wanna do is a-Zuma-zoom-zoom!"

The falling dominoes of failed African states appear headed South Africa's way, with Nelson Mandela himself recently kidnapped and danced around like a marionette as part of a turf war between ANC rivals.

Supporters of ANC presidential candidate Jacob Zuma, who is awaiting trial on charges of corruption, swooped on Mandela's home near Johannesburg last week while the ailing 90-year-old's wife was away. The old man was whisked off to a mass rally in the party's former heartland of the Eastern Cape. ...

The former South African president was eventually lifted on to the stage by a desperate Zuma and his aides so that he could be seen to be present at the rally. Mandela did not address the crowd. ...

Many South Africans were sickened by the sight of the old man being manhandled at the event, with photographs of Zuma clutching Mandela's hand gracing the front pages of national newspapers.

Let's face it, South Africa has been sliding downhill fast since the fall of Apartheid. I'm not defending the policy, but stripped of the one-dimensional spin American liberals put on it back when "End Apartheid!" was the bumper sticker du jour, it's fairly easy to understand the perceived need for "separateness" felt at one time by workaday South Africans.

If that sounds scandalous, note how the recent unrest there is taking on ominous shades of Kenya and Rwanda, with the first generation's political ambitions already devolving into tribal ugliness with the next wave of ANC leadership:

Zuma, who already styles himself "President" on his campaign literature, has turned on those making the allegations, attacking the media and the Nelson Mandela Foundation for their criticisms. "What happens between Madiba [Mandela] and the ANC is nobody else's business," he told a political rally in Cape Town on Sunday.

Mandela was fetched from his home in Houghton, Johannesburg by firebrand and former leader of the ANC Youth League, Fikile Mbalula, and by his grandson, Mandla Mandela, on behalf of Zuma.

The Eastern Cape has become a battleground for the ANC in an election that is being fought along increasingly tribal lines. Zuma, a Zulu, is struggling to retain a majority in the province, which blames him for overthrowing the former president, Thabo Mbeki - a Xhosa, like Mandela. The region is predominantly Xhosa.

Many whites are already fleeing their native African soil. (See this sad story.)

But am I crazy to predict an Afrikaner military takeover down the road if this escalates? They probably still have the wherewithal to pull it off.

Hollywood would sure freak. And by "freak" I mean thank their lucky stars. I think every third movie released in the '80s was about South Africa, with Afrikaner = Nazi = Critical Acclaim.

Having turned paradise hell into paradise hell by the wonder-working power of Danny Glover, they haven't looked back since. The departure of Bush over here also leaves a vacancy in the "Hitler" element required of every good liberal movie. And Oscar® winner Sean Penn hadn't even arrived to play the villain back then. Think of all the good these do-gooders could do today.