Opinion

South Africa’s humiliated president

December 14, 2017
South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma
South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma

It has been said that most political careers end in failure. South Africa’s president Jacob Zuma is heading toward the end of his 10 years in power in humiliation. His failure has not been personal, as much as it has been national. The verdict already seems clear. Zuma has let the Rainbow Nation down. He has failed his people.

His decade in power has always been overshadowed by allegations of corruption and sexual misdemeanors. In 2005, before he became president he was charged with raping a family friend. He was acquitted though other allegations of sexual misconduct, such as those that are currently destroying political and showbiz careers in North America and Europe, continued to circulate. In that same year he was charged with corruption over a 1999 multi-billion dollar arms deal. This did not prevent him winning the presidency in 2009 and the dropping of all charges.

Under Zuma’s leadership, South Africa, with its mineral riches and developed economy, has performed miserably. Growth has been shrinking, in excess of a quarter of the working-age population is unemployed, the currency the rand has more than halved in value over the last six years, poverty is widespread and crime is thriving. There is a deep undertow of anger, not least in the townships that greeted the end of apartheid in 1994 with delirious hopes of a change of fortune. The new South Africa’s first president, Nelson Mandela struggled to bring order to his country. Though increasingly tired and frustrated, it did seem that he had set a prosperous new course, for which he received the overwhelming support and encouragement of the international community.

His successor Thabo Mbeki lacked his moral authority but still carried with him the popular belief that the black empowerment policies, which took the economic and financial control from the minority white community, would pay dividends for all black South Africans.

But the election of Zuma, a man with a deeply-tainted past who in most countries would have been disqualified from high office, actually confirmed the worst fears of those who saw the country heading away from economic success and into the dubious territory of corruption and cronyism. It also demonstrated the catastrophic dominance of the African National Congress, which believed it had an inalienable right to power in perpetuity. Behind its hegemony, ANC leaders could and did help themselves to the country’s wealth.

Now the High Court has ordered Zuma to appoint within 30 days a judge-led enquiry into his own alleged corrupt relations with the influential Gupta family. It said the president had been “reckless” to block a report into the so-called “State Capture” scandal. The court also ordered him personally to pay all the costs of the case.

The applause that greeted the ruling may actually mark Zuma’s one single political achievement. This has been to unite much of the country, including dissident members of his own ANC, in the belief that South Africa can no longer succeed with one party rule that neglects the interests of the nation in favor of the enrichment of a venal elite. Though he denies all wrongdoing, the fact is that Zuma has come to characterize this disfiguring corruption. By 2019 when South Africans must elect his successor, they need a real choice between different candidates and, just as important, different parties.


December 14, 2017
181 views
HIGHLIGHTS
Opinion
21 days ago

Saudi Arabians remain unfazed by the 'buzz' of fools

Opinion
36 days ago

We have celebrated Founding Day for three years - but it has been with us for 300

Opinion
51 days ago

Why is FinTech flourishing in Saudi Arabia?