No South African president has courted as much controversy in recent times as Jacob Zuma has. None of his political groupies nor himself can contest the indubitable truth that he is the architect of his own bad publicity. This is a man who has consistently somersaulted from one blunder to another with unwavering regularity. First it was the rape trial where revelations of his sexual improprieties with a daughter of a friend were laid bare and shocked the moral conscience of the nation — and further, revealed a disturbing behaviour of the man who occupied the second highest office in the land. Engaging in unprotected sex with an HIV-positive woman while as deputy president he was tasked with the responsibility of stemming the tide of HIV was a demonstration of a lack of judgement on his part, and raised questions about his fitness and worthiness to be entrusted with confidence to preserve the integrity of the office he held.
Ours is a maturing society guided by principles of justice and fairness as enshrined in the Constitution, and that demands of our leaders to provide the guidance and leadership necessary for harmonious co-existence between cultural and constitutional prerogatives. Given such reasonable expectation of our leaders, Jacob Zuma went on to display his homophobic disposition when he condemned same-sex marriages as “a disgrace to the nation and to God”.
At that time even his most vociferous cheerleaders in the ANCYL distanced themselves from such remarks. The then ANCYL president Fikile Mbalula said, “If it is true that he has articulated what we have come to read about, it is his own articulation and not the ANC position and we stand by the ANC position, [which is] non-sexism, non-discrimination and equality … Gay rights are human rights and that is what makes our Constitution the most progressive in the world.”
As he usually does after making a fool of himself, Jacob Zuma issued an apology, saying, “My remarks were made in the context of the traditional way of raising children. I commented in particular about the manner in which communities tend to neglect the boy children and over-emphasise the traditional upbringing of girl children.” He found a nonsensical defence in invoking the Zulu culture to substantiate his homophobia — thus undermining the very culture he sought to uphold.
Then there was a long “laundry-list” of corruption charges following the conviction of his financial advisor Schabir Shaik. It is difficult to comprehend what exactly Schabir was advising him on as it appeared from the proceedings at Shabir’s corruption trial that he acted as Zuma’s “loan shark” and benefactor, including paying for R10 car washes. The charges brought by the National Prosecuting Authority at the time revealed an exceedingly flawed character and integrity of the man who possessed some irrational ambition to be president.
When Judge Squires handed judgement in the case against Schabir, he explicitly stated that there existed a “mutually beneficial symbiosis” between Jacob Zuma and Schabir Shaik. The corruption charges may have been dropped under dubious circumstances against him; but there remains a minefield of questions around his integrity and judgement given the conviction of Schabir.
He is now president of the Republic of South Africa and has continued on the path of self-destruction by bringing the nation into disrepute. The latest revelation of his promiscuous behavior was a confirmation that we have a leader with a sexual problem who probably needs professional assistance. Like any person suffering from a particular obsessive behaviour, he denied his fetish for daughters of his friends as a problem and attempted to defend the indefensible by intimidating the outraged and appalled public that it was his cultural right to be “pomping” around.
His performance in office has left little to arouse a sense of patriotism among the rest of South Africans and the collective pride in the presidency; other than among his brainwashed political groupies. There are reports in the media that his ministers are complaining he is unable to give direction to Cabinet. We have a problem!
His rising political populism in recent times — characterised by endless showers of empty promises in an attempt to win our support and confidence — has only served to aggravate the frustrations of those who have been waiting for service delivery. The wave of service-delivery protests around the country is testimony to the waning patience of the citizenry and their discontentment with the failure and inefficiency of government to address their plight. Zuma has perfected the art of making endless but empty promises and betraying the reasonable expectations and hopes of the desperate populace. This is occurring while the cancer of corruption continues to spread across all structures of government.
If Zuma had an affinity to books he would have realised that chief among the root causes of the February Revolution of 1917 that led to the collapse of the Imperial Russia and the end of the Romanov dynasty were the inefficient political structure, the corrupt bureaucracy and overwhelmingly rural population. The people of Russia had experienced general dissatisfaction with the manner in which their government was being run. The indifference of Tsar Nicholas II had been nurturing the seed of discontent among the people of Russia and ultimately inspired their popular uprising. The tensions which had for so long been building up finally exploded into a revolution.
He is very much conscious to the truth that the people of this country mounted a protracted offensive against the apartheid regime in pursuit of their political and economic liberation — that the delightful promise of a better life inspired the revolt against the Afrikaner Nationalist rule and the people placed full trust upon the shoulders of those charged with the arduous task of leadership during the struggle for freedom.
He must be reminded that the virtue of patience may be widely distributed among us mortals, yet with varying limits. We, the people, have entrusted the government he leads with the responsibility of service and honouring the promise of providing a better life but it continues to betray the sacred the covenant between the people and their government. The pursuit of crass-materialism and self-enrichment has taken centre stage and diverted focus from the real socioeconomic priorities facing the nation at large.
There is shameless violation of the Constitution which enshrines the right of every citizen to access basic services. The continued indifference and lackadaisical approach by government to the plight of the poor, unemployed, homeless, landless and illiterate — including lack of strong and inspirational leadership — provide necessary ingredients for a rebellion by the people.
The ANC under his leadership has become an embodiment of corruption. There exists a litany of incidents of corruption and cover-ups of improprieties of high-ranking individuals in the ANC and government. Despite Zuma being of questionable morality, integrity and having lost all credibility as a result of untested allegations of corruption, racketeering and sexual misadventures, the National Assembly is harbouring Travelgate fraud convicts who serve as ANC MPs. This is a shocking state of affairs as these are men and women whose credibility should be unquestionable.
He is presiding over a government riddled with corruption relating to the tendering process and has inspired small time crooks to the lavishness of life, while the poor wait in vain for basic services to reach them. He appears of oblivious to the self-evident truth that this endemic corruption is the basis for civil conflict and a threat to national security.
His visit to the UK at invitation of the Queen Elizabeth II has drawn criticism from the British media, with some calling him a “sex bigot” and a “vile buffoon”. There seem to be an outcry around what is purported to be harsh treatment by the British media. The ANC is even threatening legal action against the British journalists.
Intimidation of those who speak hard truths should not be a culture we wish to entrench and uphold. In his pathetic attempt to respond to this criticism by the British media, Zuma opted to instead pull the race-card and said, “When the British came to our country they said everything we are doing was barbaric, was wrong, inferior in whatever way … I don’t know why they are continuing thinking that their culture is more superior than others.”
It is rather puzzling that Zuma would accuse the British public of racism for highlighting what a reasonable person would also conclude about him. The majority of sane South Africans — given his track-record — would also arrive at a similar conclusion that he is indeed a clown, and we have expressed our collective disgust at his appalling behaviour. He has become a national embarrassment and a joke and perhaps calling him a joke may be an insult to the craft of comedians, but that is the most appropriate observation one can make under the circumstance.
This perception of buffoonery is increasingly validated by his remarks during interviews where he is required as head of state to outline policy positions of government and expound on its programmes and progress made to date. One cannot help but snigger at some of his responses when interviewed. Before he embarked on his state visit to the UK, the Financial Times asked him, “What do you think the main achievements have been of your 10 months in government?” Among his waffling, he said, “I think we have established rural development, which is crucial.” When considering the R65-million “renovations” on his Nkandla homestead, then who are we to challenge his assertion that his government has done something about “rural development.”
Here, we’re sitting with a problem. What did South Africans do to deserve this?
This entry was posted
on Thursday, March 4th, 2010 at 4:13 pm and is filed under Perspective.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
59 Responses to “Is Jacob Zuma a ’sex bigot’ and a ‘vile buffoon’?”
Excellent article. Very well said. I wish there was an opposition leader strong enough to tackle JZ (and JuJu) on these points and to show the masses exactly what/who they are blindly supporting.
Sentletse; if you were one of the millions of ANC supporters who voted ANC and Zuma in the last general elections, then it is you who have caused this embarrassment and imminent danger, and it is you who are now responsible to fix this mess.
Those of us who could see the wrong direction of the ANC ship as it sailed towards the rocks with a bumbling fool for a captain, were howling our warnings till we were blue in the face.
What you have re-stated here must be regurgitated again and again through the power of your pen, so that those who fought for power and freedom, can use this power properly and not give it up so easily to the mutineers and pirates.
I can see the author likes calling a a spade a spade. I feel that you are too hard of JZ and you could have softened up a bit. On the other hand SA deserves better than this circus by JZ.
I’ve come to the conclusion I’m doomed to experience huge embarrassment whenever one of our ruling party politicians appears on TV. I lived through the cringe-making times of Nationalist politicians - is it too much to ask for another Mandela, someone we can actually be proud of?
To even suggest that the compulsively smiling fellow is clueless about what he is doing as the ‘leader’, would be understating the embarrassment that South Africa has been roundly reduced to (completely devoid of political, moral, or intellectual leadership). Our African brothers and sisters from across the South African borders are surely laughing at us, not out of selfish delight in our corrosive political, intellectual and moral devaluation in the world’s fora, but just out of helpless hysteria over what really possessed South Africans to pin their hopes on such a spineless ‘leader’.
I am sure the fellow is smiling (at absolutely nothing) as I jot these few lines.
I think you have said it all in this piece. One day, long after this man has left office (this may come sooner rather than later) he will have left in his wake a judiciary in shambles, rule of law compromised, a zanu-fied kleptocracy and the way open for further plundering by his current bootlicking minion rabble rousers. This situation was created in the space of a few months, to clear the way for his ascent to power for a shortlived reign of petty glory. Pathetic. The short sightedness is breathtaking and SA has been brutally compromised by it. Worst of all it was entirely predictable.
eish…. i suppose we deserve him because we voted for him!
that’s the way democracy works, not always pretty, but hopefully, one day, we will realize that we can use our vote to change our future - we just need worthy leaders though - where are they?
Sentletse just today I blogged what might be an answer to your question. What South Africans did was to deserve him was to vote him in and ignore his soiled history.
I support you Sentlese. It is however not what we did. It is what we failed to do. We failed to challenge power,we failed to speak the truth and we failed to hold our leaders accountable to us. We, the citizens of the Republic of South Africa, must unite and hold our self-serving, divisive, politicians and their business partners in crime accountable. Starting with the unfinished business of the TRC.
Unless the DA dramatically changes itself and starts engaging the majority at times other than elections,they will never be a real opposition.
The ANC has been going how long?100years?The other parties have a lot to catch up to. What I hope for,and could happen with the trade unions and the SACP finally realizing ZoomZoom was just using them,is a split in the ANC; a conservative business-oriented,rightleaning ANC party,and a leftist,communist based ANC, then there’d be an actual choice and possible party switchover at election time.
The 2011 elections are coming. Opposition parties have enough armunition to take out, or at least discredit the ANC leadership. The sad part is that Zuma is handing them the armoury himself. I can tell you right now that things will not be the same after the campaining is over. Ha ha ha-a-a-a. Can’t wait to be entertained.
This is such a mature article. I wish it could be published in a weekend newspaper. Where we are now is such a tragedy after the brilliance of 1994. Why can we not have a government led by people of the calibre of Mamphela Ramphela, Cheryl Carolus, Bobby Godsell, Cyril Ramaphosa, Jay Naidoo, Theuns Eloff, Trevor Manuel, Mvume Dandala, Pravin Gordhan, Lucas Radebe?
But you write beautifully and with passion. This was a delight to read. Please keep your intensity as you are (hopefully) groomed to take the lead in some part of our society.
Interestingly, the Brit and US take on reporting and journalism is very different to ours. We do the ‘he said’, ’she said’ thing; possibly a legacy of apartheid, whereas abroad, they tell it as they see it and take pride in having opinions. Zuma didn’t stand a chance…not that he deserves one!
This is such a mature article I wish it could be published in a weekend newspaper with mass circulation. Where we are now is such a tragedy after the brilliance of 1994 and the years immediately thereafter. Why can we not have a government led by people of the calibre of Mamphela Ramphela, Cheryl Carolus, Bobby Godsell, Cyril Ramaphosa, Jay Naidoo, Theuns Eloff, Trevor Manuel, Mvume Dandala, Pravin Gordhan? There are many other outstanding South Africans. Then we could fly instead of drowning in mud. We could become a caring society that really addressed the needs of the poor. We could show the world how to tackle seemingly impossible social challenges.
There is a danger in our inability to defend and support our own. At this rate this nation will destroy itself much to the applause of those who want to take advantage of our natural resources.
So much criticism of the head of state weakens our nation more than it does to an individual (JZ). We stand to benefit nothing from it as a nation.
I wish we could publish this sort of article in Malawi. Why is it that the masses have to choose such people. Here in Malawi we had the sort of choice we have always had - the best of a bad bunch. Sorry, my brothers. We are condemned to be ruled by crooks. Its just that some are less crooked than others but its a very fine distinction. Brilliant writing!
The ANC could care less about this dismal person. It only makes them look better, when he is ousted.
They don’t care about crime, because people need the government, and there is only one party to vote for, certainly not the whites. Get used to nothing happening, except the ANC blaming the economic downturn on world affairs, not themselves
Time to change the voting system whereby the people vote directly for the President. Like in America. And vote for local candidates, then all those traditional leaders can earn their position of power from the people.
Well written article - should be e-mailed to JZ and JM if they actually read e-mails that is. Jz is from a generation who are not au fait with the IT age and almost fearful of it so his columns and feedback are probably done by minions who keep the dwindling popularity of his behaviour from him lest they be replaced by more malleable employees. We should not compare ourselves though to First World leaders but rather to Third World where Zuma fits in very well and actually can show Mugabe a thing or two about charm winning more friends than outdated rhetoric about colonialism. Perhaps Zuma is simply softening us all up for a more autocratic and authoritarian govt to come which can claim to be that way to eradicate those on the gravy train.This reminds me of the article about the no of white CEO’s versus PC numbers. If the party does not have competent leaders then who can the people vote for? I think JZ envisaged a very different life to the one he is leading - one of being the benefactor and genial leader and people like Malema also see leadership that way. The reality is very different and requires someone who is intelligent enough not to try and bulldoze his way over things or smile sweetly at babies and grannies. Diplomacy is required as well as a modicum of intelligence and ability to show constraint in his own life.
@shaz, JB, et al.: It’s said that leadership is reflection of the collective consciousness. It’s clear that SA now understands that we blew it here. Hope is that the SA collective consciousness has learnt from this stupendous blunder, such that the next leadership to be voted into power will be of a more honuorable and graceful kind, reflecting positive contemporary values.
Forever disgruntled and permanently whining.
Oh, by the way, isnt possible to write some few words about Cope’s promiscious leaders: Shilowa, Dandala, Lekota, Hlomla, blah blah blah?
With this amount of useless energy you seemed to possess, i believe you should be able to write a four page blog post.
There I said. I could have used different words, but I chose to answer your question directly and exactly. And I am talking about Zuma and Zuma alone; since he seems to think that every criticism on his selfish behaviour, uncontrollable greed and lust,is directed at our culture.
By the way, I’m black, not a COPE member and still a Charterist married to original principles of democracy and freedom once enshrined in the make-up of what used to be the African National Congress.
What a well written article! We need to encourage the media and the authorities to expose tenderpreneurs and shame them with public audit reports. Mandatory jail sentences should be given to corrupt officials. The ANC dispanded the Scorpions because of the percieved targeting of their members; will they get rid of the SARS heirachy if the audit reports become a reality?
Wholesale theft such as is happening under Zuma can bring down our democracy, and no spin doctor can convince me otherwise.
What a great and incisive read for a Sunday morning. I feel we make too much of the “wrong vote for the ANC in the national elections”. The real putsch for power was made in the sordid mess of Polokwane, a slight improvement on the dirty little affair that is the ANCYL elections in Bloemfontein.
The country’s power broking is made outside of the public arena and is sordid in its crass manipulation of ANC delegations. We are being dictated to by a largely incompetent rabble with no higher aims in life than political power and a seat at the corruption table that divides up the fiscus among the supporting cadres.
We are doomed by this to a lowering of every standard imaginable, personified by a wallowing president who has promised everything to everyone but succeeded only to deliver gravy to those on his carriage on the party train.
“Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There’s a battle outside
And it is ragin’
It’ll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’.
The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin’
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin’.
Well said Sentletse. We have to admit our mistakes if we truely want to forge some kind of success in our political future. The ANC has for sometime now labelled whoever critize them as racist. That has to stop, because what they are trying to do is not helping them at all, but continue to further endorse them into the politics of colour or race.If they fail to have the right answer for all what they do, and only have one simple answer at all the time, that is absurd.If Zuma thought he will use the British media’s bashing to recoup or recover from this political limbo, simple answer he failed.All what the British media said about him is true, and we have to live with it because we chose him to be our leader. Zuma has failed South Africa and that should not be a secret to nobody.
Good article! Unfortunately only a tiny minority of middle / upper class citizens will be able to read it or understand it. The collapsing education system ensures that commentary of this sort will never reach a wide audience in SA. The ‘people’gladly fill stadiums to hear their great leaders expound on any manner of irelevant subjects. They do not read blogs, even those who can read. Ignorance is the enemy of advancement.
Hard truths indeed. Very well written. So perhaps we can now also be brave enough to point out that whilst charisma alone can get you to leadership, integrity and wisdom really is essential to carry the day as leader? We have freedom now, should we not concentrate the lion share of our efforts on education of the masses so that they will vote wisely in the future?
@Kholekile Tshunungu - “original principles of democracy and freedom once enshrined in the make-up of what used to be the African National Congress.” - That says it all really. Who is this new ANC that is destroying our dreams? Who are these new South Africans that do not care that it is happening?
Have to admit I was quite happy to see JZ come to power. Now I am not so sure. But here’s what I think he needs to do to establish his credibility as a leader:
1. Bring out ‘umshini wami’ and mow down crime.
2. Take on Mugabe head on and get the Zim mess sorted.
3. Put the ANCYL puppies in their place once and for all.
4. Come clean on sexual and financial wrongdoing.
Do this JZ and all is forgiven - at least in my book!
well what is happening now happened during TM presidency-remember one of his friends even said he did not join the struggle to become poor- therefoe every succesive ANC goverment will have people who will in all probality line their pockets.this is s natural trajectory of being a politician, it happens everywhere in the WORLD. Every president will have his/her flaws and i think the key is to accept this fact and move on until the next elections, and hope to, in some way or another, influence the outcomes thereof by voting for a leader with some shred of dignity.
We didn’t vote for Zuma, remember. We voted for the ANC. Some people hoped that the ANC would continue doing what it had done before and would not be corrupted by Zuma. Other people felt that however bad the ANC might get under Zuma, it couldn’t be worse than the alternatives, the IFP and the DA.
The tragedy is that the ANC was corrupted by Zuma (and his allies — he didn’t do it all himself, you know). The other tragedy is that the alternatives remain just as bad.
I join in the chorus of those who say the writing is excellent and the points made are, unfortunately, spot on.
This morning we woke up to the revelation that the President is seeking legal advise about whether he should declare his interests which were supposed to have been declared 10 months ago.
I can only hope we don’t get used to this mediocrity in government when there are so many challenges in our beloved country. This country does not deserve this and the sooner capable people in the ANC admit this, the better. Our country is burning and the President wants to lead a debate on a moral code and seking legal advise on declaring his interests.
We don’t deserve this leadership. Sentle, please send this and the comments to the President.
@ Sentletse, I hope you mean well not driven by the desire to score political points at the expense of the country. At the rate you’re going no one will ever occupy the presidency without being ridiculed. If you don’t show respect to the current president don’t hope that things will be better when Shilowa ascends to power. You must be careful what tools you use to grab power because they might used against you when you’re in power.I appreciate that you’re being praised for this blog but this may not necessarily be what is right for your country. Zuma cannot govern properly without your GOODWILL and Shilowa will never govern without Zuma’s supporters’ GOODWILL.
well said/written… its a pity that some of us do not see it the way you have just put it. the guy was never fit for the office and he clearly will never be because he is not working on improving his conduct.
it’s good to know that there are still people who can make a distinction between what is wrong and what is right.
The ANC embraced the NP and some of the old NP leadership are now ANC ministers. The DA must not be confused with the apartheid regime. They may have won the white voters away from the NP, but they have a completely different ideology, policy base and capability to govern. Also, while they may have a white majority, the DA and the DA leadership is completely non-racist.
You could not do better for yourself and the country, if you were to support the DA. It is only a stronger opposition that can galvanise the leading party ANC to improve their ability to govern effectively. Think about it.
Sipho, I hope you had the same advice for Jacob Zuma when he ascended to power in Polokwane while his supporters were booing other leaders, others threatening that blood would be spilt if the courts found against him etc. Zuma himself should’ve been careful of the tools he used to ascend to power, he never chastised his supporters for their antics and he and his supporters must equally accept the way people express their dissatisfaction with his leadership.
I think what you write about is something that has been known for some time already…
We have to remember that the service delivery protests were already going on way before Thabo Mbeki was recalled so it’s not something that can be attributed to JZ…..we must also remember that the current administration took over at the height of recession
“If Zuma had an affinity to books…” this is a cheap shot, Mugabe has a couple of degrees….
I think it’s fair to look at the policies being made than to tackle the person
I wouldn’t judge my president on the statement he made on gays!
In all life supporting and growth human relations respect and GOODWILL are earned. The effort? Simple, among others: wisdom, character, sensitivity, flexibility, adaptability, reciprocity, diplomacy, open-mindedness, dependability, justice & fairness, honesty, transparency, decency, humility, honour & integrity. Sorry, but the general local and global consensus is that the current SA president is lacking in much, if not all, of the attributes above.
@ Simon Chilembo and Diti, there’s a great probability that Zuma might get a second term. The truth is that if you continue to attack the presidency and spread cynicism, in pursuit of power, by 2019 the presidency might be worthless. Local chiefs would have more say and power than the president. That simply spells disintegration of the country, and you’d probably never enjoy your party’s ascension to power. My call for Goodwill is premised on the dream that together we can make it work in a unitary state. Whatever I do and say is motivated by that dream.
Thought you might enjoy this: “This is one of the most humbling things any one ever done for me. This gesture of appreciation has left me speechless, and emotions have overcome me as a result. Thank you very much, Niclas! See short film here: http://en.tackfilm.se/?id=1268319264823RA79
Any student of politics and power knows that any thing is possible in politics. Therefore it wouldn’t surprise me if the current SA pres. gets a second term. What would surprise me would be the SA voters themselves. By the way, I have no (political) power ambitions (at the moment!); and although I am not a card-carrying member, I actually am pro-ANC to the bone. For the party to regain the respect and goodwill of SA people it is in dire need of renewal of the humane values and style of its front figures. The power paradigm changed in 1994; leaders cannot continue with the same style of doing things as they did in exile. Now they cannot escape responsibility and answerability to the people.
All comments must be approved by our editors, click here to read the editorial guidelines for comments. Please allow some time for our editors to approve your comment after posting.
profile
Sentletse Diakanyo's blogs may contain views on any subject which may upset sensitive readers. Parental Guidance is strongly adviced. He is not a journalist and his readers should not unreasonably expect balanced articles.
Views expressed here are his, and his alone, and do not represent any other organisation or person(s).
Often anti-Zionist and Israeli apologists when arguing about the Israel/Palestine conflict, behave like toddlers on a playground needing parental supe...
As Africa grapples with the strenuous task of finding lasting solutions to her problems under the mantra "African solutions to African problems", we s...
In 1975, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution which asserted that Zionism was racism. The resolution read: “The General Assembly ...
The Global Financial Crisis of 2008 exposed particular weaknesses in the global financial system, regulatory regimes and some government’s inability...
Loading ...
Excellent article. Very well said. I wish there was an opposition leader strong enough to tackle JZ (and JuJu) on these points and to show the masses exactly what/who they are blindly supporting.
(Report abuse)