The Saturday Star scoop that the ANC is replacing Johnnie Walker Blue Label as (Luthuli) house whisky with Chivas Regal is yet another purge of Mbeki influences in the ruling party. Ignoring the inconvenient truth that Jacob Zuma is the only member of the party who does not drink, Jacob’s image as a ladies’ man, a Sir Lancelot Lovemachine, ties in with the global Chivas “Age of Chivalry” promotion. Johnnie Walker’s Striding Man is so nineties, echoing the Long Walk to Freedom of Mbeki predecessor and protector, Nelson Mandela. Thabo himself was famously a bottle-of-blue-label-a-day man and when Johnnie Walker King George V was launched in Cape Town, the venue was Tuinhuis, the president’s official residence in the Mother City.

Of course the adoption of a pricey imported spirit will not go unnoticed by cadres in Wellington, home of Bain’s Naturally Pure Cape Mountain Whisky. The distillery dates back to the 1850s and is situated on the Berg River at the foot of the Bains Kloof Pass. A single grain whisky it is a uniquely South African product that could benefit from a little bit of marketing support in this year of the 2010 tourism invasion. Matured in fine oak casks, it should appeal to those ANC Youth League members boasting a “G” in woodwork for Matric as qualifications for political office. Meanwhile the Joseph Barry Cape Pot Still Brandy was voted best brandy in the world at the International Wine & Spirit Competition in London late last year but clearly being a lekker local product is no recommendation for service onboard the political gravy train.