ONCE in a while one cringes at the Sowetan editorials and says: "Hau, et tu Sowetan!" Monday was the day to cringe.

Editorials are usually impeccable and are without such sloppy conceptual confusions as "Ju Ju taking Zuma down".

I am not concerned about taking someone down who is already down. My concern is your pandering to the legion of noble ignoramuses by constantly regaling us with "ANC is the ruling party". This is royal nonsense. The ANC is not and has never been a "ruling party".

There are no ruling parties in a democratic system. You cannot have them either. So please do not confuse our students.

I teach post-graduate students in business leadership at a university. I would not permit them to make sloppy phrases such as you make.

Of course' the ANC, their supporters, a zillion editors, columnists, populists, propagandists, demagogues, idolaters and a host of arrogant ideologues, honestly believe that the ANC is a ruling party.

The belief is based on carelessness or ignorance. Since they choose to use English as their medium of communication they must learn to use it properly. Incidentally even white English speakers have a tendency to display such crass carelessness.

The ANC is a governing party, and not a ruling one. There is a difference. In a monarchical system or even a dictatorial regime, we have rulers, not governors. There is a common English expression: "The Speaker ruled the legislature with an iron hand." Here, the Speaker "rules" despite protestations. Judicial courts also "rule" during court proceedings. Governments govern and monarchs rule.

Professor Themba Sono, Pretoria