Justice Malala's column in Sowetan on Mondays never cease to amaze me. His analysis of the State of the Nation address is, unlike Thabo Mbeki's, replete with a "Long List of Blind Spots."

Justice Malala's column in Sowetan on Mondays never cease to amaze me. His analysis of the State of the Nation address is, unlike Thabo Mbeki's, replete with a "Long List of Blind Spots."

One of Malala's early signs of blind spots was evident on the eve of the State of the Nation address on e.tv. Newsreader Sally Burdett asked him if he thought the president would talk about crime. Condescendingly, Malala emphatically responded by saying that Mbeki was stubborn and would not "address the issue of crime at all". How wrong he was.

On Monday, Malala wrote that the speech amounted to nothing but a finger-wagging exercise by Mbeki, who told everyone not to tell him what to do because his priority is poverty and nothing else.

Surely, if that is Malala's take, any self-respecting reader should not take him seriously. According to Malala, Mbeki did not address a single burning issue.

Without infringing on Malala's right to freedom of expression, I believe his analysis amounts to the abuse of freedom of expression.

It is increasingly obvious that Malala is turning into a self-appointed Mbeki critic. I base my point on the number of critical articles he has written about the president. To prove my point, read the Business Day editorial of Monday.

Oupa Mhlongo, Johannesburg