10/16/2005
Go with the flow...baby!
The Sultan of Swing. The Prince of Pride. The Z in Zulu.
This past week you could be forgiven for thinking the boys at MTV had flown into Durbs to set-up a show which was kind of a mix between "Pimp my Ride" and "The MTV Movie Awards". The singing, the dancing, the Press, the Humvees, the massive aggro bodyguards, the Ego's, the Humvees - it was all there. The M&G Editorial puts it all in perspective :
Outside the Durban Magistrate’s Court this week, South Africa got a very clear snapshot of what a Jacob Zuma presidency would be like. And it was not a spectacle that engenders confidence.
Arriving and departing in a shiny black Humvee, the African National Congress deputy president was at all times surrounded by a phalanx of bald-headed toughs and was escorted to and from court by a cavalcade of police cars, sirens blaring. They elbowed aside the bystanders, staring menacingly at all who dared come close to Brother Leader.
Zuma was the perfect pastiche of the populist rabble-rouser. Outside the courts, he drew comparisons between his court appearance this week and his experiences under apartheid -- a declaration not calculated to bolster public confidence in the judiciary. Addressing his supporters, he spoke of the institutions of South Africa’s democracy -- the National Prosecuting Authority and the courts -- as if they were an alien and illegitimate force.
Spurred on by toyi-toying demonstrators, he hinted darkly at conspiracies designed to keep him out of the presidency. Zuma’s suggestion that he has nothing to answer for, and that the corruption case against him is a political plot, is an oft-repeated allegation which the former deputy president has not once fleshed out, despite ample opportunity to do so. South Africa has still not been given his version of the notorious R500 000 bribe message, although he has only to call a press conference to provide it.
Sounds like a (bad) movie...
04:45 Posted in Da Law | Permalink | Comments (4) | Email this
Comments
As a fellow Sunday Times Reader, Someamongus, today's article by Ray Hartley ("This is not a game") will not have escaped your notice. I'd love to hear your comments on it: doomsmongering, or should we really be as afraid as he says? For example, he warns that, in the event of a Zuma presidency, "the poor ... would eventually rise up". We have heard these threats before, of course (if we resist transformation; if the "capitalists" earn too much while paying their workers peanuts, etc.) As a matter of interest, do you know of any other sub-Saharan African country where the poor have "risen up"?
Posted by: hex | 10/16/2005
It is a very interesting article - I always find Ray Hartley's op-ed articles very topical and thought provoking.
I agree with Hartley wholeheartedly on the Zuma presidency question - Zuma has shown he's willing to break any number of democratic taboo's as long as the ultimate prize (and we all know what that is) is his for the taking. This is not what South Africa needs and I don't care what "Struggle Credentials the man has.
Unfortunately a lot of this mess is the Prez's fault in the first place. If he hadn't been such a distant, aloof character Zuma would not be able to play the popularist card so easily by appearing to be the Mbeki anitithesis.
Anyway back to the article - ultimately I do believe that Zuma will be found guilty. So I don't believe in the short term (say the next 5-10) years we need to worry about him disrupting things in running for the presidency. To me the threat is more in the mid-long term where, if this and the next president (whoever that may be) do not deliver on service promises etc. we might see the reemergence of Jay-Z the populist. This is the real threat and then I think Hartley's domino effect might just come into play.
As to the last part of your Q, on the potential of the poor to openly revolt I think the "revolution" would be a different from what Hartley seems to suggest. We're not gonna see any French Revolution or October 1917 here, rather the poor and ignored will vote into power a populist who says the lines they want to hear - whether this person will be for good or ill of the country, we'll have to see?
Posted by: Someamoungus | 10/17/2005
JZ really should stay away from the statements that link this trial to his trial under partheid. It just makes him look stupid and whilst I understand what he's tryign to do (drum up anti state/Mbeki support) there is no link.
This sort of statement is generally used by those to the right of the broad ANC structures and we then can sweep them with the brush of harping after the old days.
Coming from JZ it looks desperate and stupid.
Lastly I've been doing the maths on the trial and the ANC confernce in 2007 and assuming the trial gets under way in Q2 or Q3 of 2006 his verdict will be mid to late 2007. Hence if he is found guilty his appeal would still be pending when the ANC votes for a new pres and there is no way the majority would vote for a convicted felon for ANC (and hence SA) leader. Of course this openes the door for his supporters to say that the trial is still under appeal and he is not technically guilty - but that isn't going to fly at the conference.
Posted by: zaBlogger | 10/17/2005
No worries for JZ if found guilty, he'll just be the darling of 'the people' for his 'struggle' against the system. He's a hero for getting away with fraud and corruption for so long. Look what a few convictions did for Winnie 'psychopath' Mandela? Maybe she'll act as a character witness for JZ? If our man J ever gets to the top spot, I suggest he steers clear of grassy knolls, non-armoured vehicles and suits that aren't made from kevlar...
Posted by: nero | 10/22/2005
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