As I write this, Jacob Zuma’s political fate hangs in the balance. Currently, it is agreed that Zuma and the state will clash on December 8th 2008 in order to set a date when he should stand trial. As reported in the Mail & Guardian [August 15th 2008], this is dependent on two things: whether or not Zuma agrees to be tried in the second quarter of 2009 and whether or not Judge Chris Nicholson decides to rule in favour of Zuma and declare attempts to prosecute him unconstitutional. If an agreement is indeed reached, then Zuma will probably stand trial next year. But there’s one problem from the state’s point of view.
It seems to the observer that Zuma is probably stalling his trial right up to 2009, which just happens to be election year. He’s either trying to postpone his trial as long as possible and then come Election Day, if Zuma wins, he will have immunity as President. Or, he’s hoping that Judge Chris Nicholson rules in favour of him. Or he’s trying to sap the state’s patience – unlikely if the state feels they have a strong case against him. If he is convicted before Election Day, it’s also possible that Thabo Mbeki could give him a presidential pardon – again, highly unlikely given that the animosity between these two is well-known (though subtle). But let’s take a brief look at Zuma the man.
Zuma, a Zulu of the Msholozi clan, hails from Inkandla in rural KwaZulu-Natal. His father was a policeman who died when young Zuma was still a boy. He received little schooling, but he was, and still is, remarkably intelligent and has great, natural charisma. He involved himself in revolutionary politics at a young age, joining the ANC aged 17. Shortly afterwards, he joined Umkhonto weSizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress. He was arrested in 1963 along with 45 other cadres, and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on Robben Island, where he met with senior ANC leaders like Nelson Mandela. Zuma was released in the 1970s, and he was influential in re-establishing the ANC underground in KwaZulu-Natal and became a member of the National Executive Committee. He left South Africa for independent Zambia in the 1980s, rising to the rank of Chief of the Intelligence Department, and also served on the ANC’s political and military council. Prior to the first democratic elections in 1994, Zuma was influential in quelling political violence in his native KwaZulu-Natal. He served as Deputy President of South Africa from 1999 until 2005, when President Thabo Mbeki relieved him of his duties due to the corruption charges against him. He then faced a rape trial shortly afterwards, where he was found not guilty. He was reinstated as Deputy President of the ANC, but Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka replaced him as Deputy President of the nation.
So Zuma’s back and providing he doesn’t get convicted, we are looking at South Africa’s third black president, third democratically elected president, second oldest elected president (Nelson Mandela was 76 when elected, Thabo Mbeki, 57), first Zulu president, second president to have stood trial for their anti-Apartheid activities. But Zuma requires a real analysis and critique which hasn’t been tainted by the ridiculous sensationalism which frequents the South African media. South Africans need to take a step back and look at the whole Zuma before predicting the country’s collapse if he becomes President. South Africa needs to take a look at the issues which will be on everyone’s agenda come 2009.
ZUMA vs The Economy
This is a crucial issue and no doubt plays on the minds on those suspicious of a Zuma presidency. Zuma’s close relations with and strong support from South Africa’s political left, comprising the South African Communist Party, the Congress of South African Trade Unions, the ANC Youth League and the Young Communist League, no doubt worries the investors and businessman. Concerned that Zuma will move away from the market friendly policies of Thabo Mbeki (which have been heavily criticised by the left) in favour of nationalisation and redistribution of wealth, many economists feel that Zuma will end South Africa’s longest period of sustained growth since the end of World War II. But Zuma has gone out of his way to meet with investors and businessmen, both abroad and domestic, to ask for their continued investment in the continent’s strongest economy, thereby potentially alienating supporters on the left, stating:
“The question of economic growth remains a priority we will focus on”
His candidacy for ANC President was also endorsed by Tokyo Sexwale, a veteran of the struggle and business tycoon and his supporters. There is still Zuma’s support for redistribution of wealth, but we will come to that later.
ZUMA vs Zimbabwe & Robert Mugabe
Whatever happens to Thabo Mbeki, he will forever be remembered as the man who stood by while Zimbabwe melted down. A man who stubbornly stuck to his water pistols while ‘mad Bob’ Mugabe intelligently and systematically destroyed a country that was once Africa’s bread basket, with a GDP equal to that of South Korea’s, and a 90% literacy rate. Zuma, on the other hand, has been nothing short of consistent in his criticism and condemnation of Robert Mugabe, as with most people on South Africa’s political left. He has also criticised the policies of his predecessor:
“It is even more tragic that other world leaders who witness repression pretend it is not happening, or is exaggerated. When history eventually deals with the dictators, those who stood by and watched should also bear the consequences. A shameful quality of the modern world is to turn away from injustice and ignore the hardships of others”
Thank you, Jacob. Thank you for saying what so many of us have been saying for so long. You could not be any closer to the truth. The entire world has turned a blind eye to the millions of suffering, starving people. Shame on you, Thabo. Shame on you for letting Mugabe destroy the lives of all his people. Mugabe stole elections, intimidated opponents and practically beat his own people to a pulp, and still you stood by. Jacob is right, you are also complicit in Mugabe’s crimes.
Zuma further reiterated his view of Mugabe in July at an ANC dinner when he compared Mugabe to other African leaders “who refuse to bow out and try to change the constitution to accommodate themselves.”
Should Zuma become president, we can no doubt expect a tougher stance on Zimbabwe (provided Mugabe hasn’t swallowed his pride and stepped down – unlikely).
SHERIFF ZUMA vs Crime
When your Minister for Safety & Security attacks people who question the government’s committment to fighting crime and refers to them as ‘crime whingers’, it doesn’t really bode well. Another complete failure of Thabo Mbeki’s administration has been crime, which will probably be an issue in South African society for many years to come thanks to Mbeki’s inability to tackle it. It’s a thorny issue because crime is probably the number one reason why South Africans emigrate abroad.
Unlike a lot of his colleagues, Zuma has taken a hardline stance on crime, which is thoroughly admirable given the willingness of Thabo Mbeki and others to either dodge the issue or re-word crime into a question of racism. He has stated that the South African legal system must not be user-friendly for criminals and “must have teeth”. He has supported various crime fighting initiatives, but probably the only stain on Zuma with regards to this issue is his support of the decision to disband the Scorpions. We have yet to see the effects of this move, but I do not think this was a wise decision. One would not be wrong to suggest that this was politically motivated.
ZUMA vs Poverty
We’re back to an issue which ties in with the economy and with crime. Poverty is without a doubt the number one cause of crime, and we have to solve the two issues in unison. Going back to the economy, Mbeki’s market-friendly policies have been accused of churning out a minority black elite, while leaving behind the vast majority. Zuma has repeatedly stated that more needs to be done to fight poverty, and for that matter he will no doubt be in favour of spending more money on services like health, education, housing and welfare. This doesn’t sound good, some suggesting Zuma supports operating the budget on a slight deficit to do all that. But the simple matter is that we need to introduce more measures to fight poverty. People must have free access to health and education, and that requires money. If we do all this to improve people’s livelihoods, then fighting crime will be a lot easier.
GENERAAL JACOBUS ZUMA vs Die Khakis
He isn’t really under obligation to do it, because their support is actually meaningless when you think about it, but Jacob Zuma has gone out of his way to extend a hand to White South Africans, especially the Afrikaans community. He has met folk musicians Steve Hofmeyr, Leon Schuster and various Afrikaner leaders, including Dr Pieter Mulder. If you don’t know who Dr Mulder is, he is the leader of the right-wing, Afrikaner separatist Vryheidsfront Plus. I personally find them a laughing stock because of their belief that Afrikaners are different to South Africa, and their desire to separate Afrikaners from the rest of South Africa. Yet Zuma met and discussed various issues with them, and Mulder was no doubt impressed with Zuma, who was said to have had a grasp on “issues which at present directly affect the Afrikaans community.” He has also met with Afrikaans business leaders, union leaders, farmers and even the “poor white” community and expressed solidarity with their aims. Also, while visiting London, he desired to meet emigrant South Africans (I know because my sister and I wanted to go see him). He is also said to have good relations with the Indian community; my uncle met him earlier this year and was also very impressed.
Of course, there are some Afrikaners who may be suspicious of Zuma (like the morons at the Herstigte Nasionale Party), but Zuma’s wooing of the Afrikaans community is no different to the olive branch that Nelson Mandela extended many years ago. Thanks to Thabo Mbeki and his racial short-sightedness, White South Africans have become marginalised, and Zuma should be commended for trying to bring them back into the new South Africa. Clearly, Zuma comes across as someone who wants to bridge the all-too-real racial divide in South Africa. As much as we want to bang on about our non-racial society, race is still poisoning our politics and nation. Zuma probably also possesses that rare gift to unite different races that Nelson Mandela had, and Thabo Mbeki sadly lacked.
DR ZUMA vs Aids
Okay, I’m going to concede one point in my defence of Zuma. At his rape trial, Zuma said that he showered after having [what the courts concluded] consensual sex with a woman who was HIV positive (without a condom, I might add). Now, when Zuma then said that, it caught on like a wildfire throughout the South African media. I actually think he might have referred to the fact that, for example, those leaflets you get in packets of condoms (yes, I have read them before action for safety measures!) actually suggest you should have a shower after sex, simply so that you’re clean before you go to bed. But instead what happened was that Zuma was presented as this bumbling idiot who thought that a shower reduces infection of HIV. It was so vicious that Zuma is now universally portrayed in the media with a shower head on his forehead. Although I believe it is unwarranted (given that I suggested what Zuma probably really meant), it was not a wise move for a potential president of a nation with one of the highest rates of AIDS in the world. Whether his words were twisted by the media or not, Zuma does need to accept responsibility for his actions and realise that he tempted fate by having unprotected sex with a HIV positive woman. Although one positive from Zuma’s experience is that he hasn’t actually questioned the root of AIDS, unlike Thabo Mbeki. Like Zimbabwe, crime and poverty, Mbeki’s policy on AIDS was stay quiet and say nothing. He further hampered the AIDS struggle by employing Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang as Health Minister, now infamous for proposing beetroot, garlic, African potatoes and a healthy diet as the solution, and sacking Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, the Deputy Health Minister and one of the few members of the ANC to publicly acknowledge the AIDS crisis. Zuma can still redeem himself on this most crucial issue, and I believe he can.
CONCLUSION
Given his stances on the various issues which will pertain to South Africans come next year, Zuma is a far cry from the bumbling, shower-headed buffoon we see in the media. He is actually very articulate, humble and very intelligent, and he comes across as someone who likes to listen, rather than talk. He doesn’t pretend to be a philosopher king, he is very personable and people can identify with him, probably thanks to his background and rural upbringing. Unlike his predecessor, who had a penchant for sacking people who didn’t toe the line, Zuma likes to surround himself with people who are more intelligent than himself and is willing to accept responsible criticism. It should also be noted that Zuma and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela were the only two prominent ANC members to visit the victims of the recent violence against foreigners.
He has done much to bridge the different communities of South Africa; he wears his heart on his sleeve and cares much for people less fortunate than himself. Naturally, Zuma is not perfect, he has slipped up on issues like AIDS and his support for the Scorpions disbanding, but his political style is not cold and authoritarian, and surely that is something we should be happy about. Obviously nobody can try and be another Nelson Mandela, because he was totally his own man, but the best that we as South Africans can do is to try and emulate Madiba as much as possible. And in Zuma, we have a man who is not as close to Madiba as any of us will get, but is still very close.
