Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma, who ruled South Africa since 2009, has literally pushed the country to doom and despair. It is near certain that he has truly lived up to his middle name ‘Gedleyihlekisa’, which in Zulu means ‘I laugh at you, as I destroy you’. When he took over the reins of South Africa from an elitist professor Thabo Mbeki in April 2009, the country was hailed as one of a safe destination for preaching democratic values supported by public activism. From all accounts, he has heralded a ‘dynasty of dysfunction’. His rule is widely blamed for misrule, corruption and economic stagnation which now afflict the whole nation.
When he resigned on February 14 from the post of President after constant pressure from his African National Congress (ANC), the whole country breathed a sigh of relief as if a new era has started. In fact, when he came to know that his party is only going to support the motion of no confidence, which would also have seen the entire Cabinet being dissolved, he took his final call. But then he warned in his televised speech, ‘We are being plunged into a crisis that I feel some of my comrades will regret’. Also he asked his countrymen, ‘What is it that I have doneIJ’ Zuma knows all for what his party has to take this unfortunate decision.
Those days of fight against racial apartheid has gone. The man who rose from the ranks of the ANC’s underground military wing, known as ‘Umkhonto we Sizwe’ to the post of President, had long years of experience behind. His connection with legendary Nelson Mandela goes back to 1963, when he was arrested by the apartheid police and jailed alongside Mandela in Robben Island for ten years. After his release from the jail, he immediately resumed his spying work for the ANC in countries, such as Swaziland and Mozambique. By 1990, when South Africa was fighting the last battles against the apartheid regime, he came back and engaged himself in crucial activities of the party. He earned respect from many quarters around this time. Colin Coleman who now runs Goldman Sachs in South Africa recalls Zuma like this, ‘A very charming person, very grounded, a man of the people, charismatic. Not as sophisticated as Thabo Mbeki, but very strategic’. What we have seen and experienced from April 2009 to February 2018 is entirely a different picture and truly a shocking one from his rule.
Many say that disliking against Zuma mostly springs from prejudice by an extremely aggressive media campaign. Jessie Duarte, former Deputy Secretary General of the ANC and a former special assistant to Mandela, once said, ‘The accusations against Zuma are clouded by suspicion, by prejudice, by conjecture...spun by a very aggressive media. That is why it has been argued that he is a victim of outrageous prejudice, always mocked for his lack of higher education, both within and outside the ANC, and his complete rural upbringing’. And it was also brought to the notice of the public by a section of the white media which totally focused on his personal failures instead of highlighting the rare milestones achieved by his Government.
Therefore, Zuma does not have to do anything to dislike and disgrace himself in public, because the prejudice against him is so ingrained across the South African society. Once, Prof Sipho Seepe, who was an adviser to the Zuma administration in the past, said, ‘You have a peasant; with no university degree...Zuma does not have to anything for him to be disliked. The prejudice is so ingrained’. This shows how the first citizen of the country, who is described as both the head of the State and the Government by the Chapter Five of the South African Constitution, is made a point of mockery, just by taking advantage of his social background.
Besides, his fans and supporters equally claim that during his rule his Government was successful in fighting against HIV/AIDS. He has taken long term strategies to tackle poverty in the rural areas across South Africa. He has given top priority to the education sector, particularly on higher education. Ironically, the civil service of the country has expanded to great extent, though gradually, major institutions for public service have crumbled both under the pressure of his cronies and corruption. Under him, all the Ministries have been closely monitored so as to deliver maximum to public demands. And finally, his long term National Development Plan has won support from all political spheres. But then, how he has fallen from grace over the years has become an irony for many who knew him closely from his early years in the ANC.
But, Zuma in reality is totally different from what his supporters and fans think about. Under him, there has been constant complains of ‘State Capture’ as Zuma has given enough leeway to a group of corporates such as the ‘Gupta Brothers’ to virtually run the South African State from behind. It is alleged that Guptas are behind changing two times Finance Minister of Zuma, Pravin Gordhan. Today the main charge against Zuma is of ‘State Capture’. Indeed this term was categorically mentioned by Thuli Madonesla, the former Public Prosecutor of the country, in a report published in October 2016. This report underlines that the ‘three Gupta brothers, business associates of Zuma’s son, Duduzane, had excessive influence over South African politics, from which they profited’. This was so ironical that Zuma’s alienation from the big business houses, the churches, the civil society organisations and most importantly, the ANC, during his second term, has literally united strange bedfellows such as the Goldman Sachs, the trade unions and the South African Communist Party against him and his cronies.
Besides, the rape charge against him brought by Fezekile Khwezi Kuzwayo from which he was eventually acquitted by the Court in 2006, has brought maximum disgrace both to the ANC and to a top leader of the country. But then he hardly showed a sign of repentance in front of the global community. It was so emblematic of the way women are treated in South African society which is purely based on age-old patriarchal values even today.
Now, after the sudden departure of Zuma, what could be the future on the ANCIJ Will there be enough force behind Ramaphosa to stop Zuma-era cronies, other corrupt elements and his supporters, to shape up a ‘New South Africa’ in the years aheadIJ Zuma’s eventual removal could help the party of Mandela to reset its new course of action. It is hoped that the scandal-plagued Zuma’s removal will offer the new leader Cyril Ramaphosa a chance to reestablish South Africa as a role model for the rest of the continent.
Today, the ANC is a party, broadly divided and its clout across the urban pockets and in rural areas (its traditional vote banks) is falling fast. Initially, the party was the mouthpiece of the black majority of the country. And the party has dominated the electoral scene of South Africa since the end of the apartheid in 1994. Both Mandela and Mbeki, the country has dismantled formal apartheid mechanisms prevalent for decades in sectors such as education, health. Besides, during their time, critical basic facilities like housing, water and electricity were provided to millions of poor in South Africa. Nevertheless, the volume of Black poverty has not reduced to a significant level, despite the country being ruled by revolutionary leaders of their own community since 1994. But then a strong and powerful Black elite has emerged in these years that are closely attached to the ANC. Under Zuma, corruption and misrule have gone sky high. At all levels, the party has become a platform for making profits which goes only to a certain section of the people. This has largely created hopelessness, mainly among the youth and the unemployed.
At this moment, the ANC has two challenges in front of it: One that is represented by Zuma, who always wanted the redistribution of wealth as the large portion of it is still in the hands of the White minority. The vast majority of the rural Blacks generally feel that this approach could rightly address their age-old problems and strengthen their economic and political status in society. Whereas, Ramaphosa argues that South Africa demands a traditional and liberal capitalist approach to lift its economy. And he finds his own band of supporters among the urban Black middle class who view the country in the light of globalisation. It’s time now to come out from this dilemma and steer clear the future agenda for the party because in the past, neither of these approaches could bring miracle to the economy since the global downturn in 2008.
Another problem what plagues the ANC is its decision making process. It is the party’s National Executive Committee — which is not an organ of the South African Government — that takes all decisions and finally directs the policy making process. The daily affairs are guided by the ‘Top Six’, the party leader and another five senior-most party leaders. Herein, Ramaphosa and his supporters have a majority and hence, it is hoped that he will be able to influence the crucial decisions and take most of the party affairs under his complete control.
South Africa, being the most advanced economy of the continent has a gross domestic product of $750 billion (PPP). It has a strong influence over the growth and expansion of democratic ideals in Africa. Surely, both the economic and the political systems of the country badly suffered under Zuma, but fortunately the media, civil society and particularly the judiciary stood up on their own. All of them exposed the wrongdoings of his administration and demanded action against him on behalf of the South African people.
With its superior financial and economic infrastructure, the country is regarded as the economic engine of the region. The time has come to put a full stop to rampant corruption and cronyism in South Africa so that millions of poor and underprivileged people get their fair share of life.
Precisely, Zuma truly represents a betrayal of the great South African dream. The dream that the rainbow nation has awaited for a long to be realised after the departure of the legendary Mandela in 2013 may probably not come true in anytime soon. What has been initially projected as simply a ‘rural chief’ (Zuma) victimised by a group of urban elites across South Africa is not entirely true. Throughout his tenure, he has exposed himself as a person, who has brought disgrace to the office of the President itself. Now, let’s wait and watch how Ramaphosa regime unfolds and takes South Africa to a new dawn.
(The writer is an expert on international affairs)
