The overwhelmingly negative reaction of the majority of South Africans to the recent news that President Jacob Zuma had had unprotected sex (and had fathered a child) with the daughter of a friend who was not his wife (shortly before marrying his third wife) took me by surprise. As Steven Friedman pointed out last week, Zuma is a polygamist and it has been public knowledge that he has had multiple sexual partners and many children, so why the fuss?
Why the sudden rush to judgment? Have we all suddenly turned into moralistic and judgmental prudes?
Eusebius McKaiser suggested – wrongly, I suspect – that the condemnation of the President was something that the “chattering classes” indulged in and (like Steven Friedman) suggested that the latest revelations about the sexual antics of our President will have no effect of his standing among the masses. McKaiser continued:
Zuma has much more important weaknesses that should give us cause for concern. For example, does he have the capacity to speak confidently to important policy questions – foreign policy, climate change, crime, education, health etc.? Does he have the capacity to strike a balance between his famed penchant for listening and showing clear leadership in relation to tensions within the alliance? Can he put a view of his own – and not one that is handed to him by the African National Congress – on any of the sexy issues of the day, like nationalisation of the mines, for example? I very much doubt Zuma’s leadership on these fronts. An assessment of his character in relation to these challenges is much more important than whether or not he is a paragon of moral virtue.
If his bedroom life could shed light on whether he can lead us effectively on these policy fronts, then details about his sexuality would take on more obvious relevance. But they do not. Whether or not Zuma had sex with Sonono Khoza does not tell me whether he has the ability to steer us through a recession. It just tells me that he is a ‘player’ like many of us.
I suspect that McKaiser has it exactly wrong on this score. South Africans of all stripes (not only the chattering classes) can be quite moralistic (at least in public) but we also love an underdog and most of us are relatively quick to forgive. For goodness, sake some people even forgave Andriaan Vlok for being the Minister of Police in apartheid South Africa and for trying to poison Frank Chikane – and all Vlok had to do was wash Chikane’s feet.
While Zuma was embroiled in a titanic battle with Thabo Mbeki and his cohorts, many South Africans rooted for Zuma. He was the underdog taking on Mbeki – the mighty leader of the ANC, the intellectual bully of note, the President of the country. Zuma had convinced many people – from the Cosatu leadership to newspaper columnists to rank and file ANC members – that Mbeki and his allies had conspired against him. He was being persecuted to ensure that he never becomes President.
It was therefore easy to forgive him. It was also easy to gloss over the uncomfortable truth regarding his corrupt relationship with Schabir Shaik and his inappropriate relationship with the daughter of a friend because he was under attack. After all, he was a victim – just like all black South Africans had been victims of apartheid, racism and oppression.
But Zuma has been President for eight months now and he has appointed his confidants as Ministers of Police and State Security, as Commissioner of Police and as National Director of Public Prosecutions. There can be no question anymore of a conspiracy against Zuma as he is in charge of the country.
But his performance as President of the country has at best been lacluster. He has made many flamboyant promises but he has not taken many difficult but necessary decisions that may have alienated any of the factions that came together at Polokwane to unseat Mbeki. He has promised the creation of 500 000 jobs by the end of last year – yet 1 million people had actually lost their jobs instead. He promised to root out corruption in the civil service and in the granting of tenders and to subject his Minister to performance contracts – but corruption has increased and Ministers have not signed such contracts.
Last year, in what was hailed as a welcome break with previous government practice, Zuma made an unannounced visit to the Siyathemba township outside Balfour after service delivery protests and later announced measures that would address the community’s demands. Monitoring and Evaluation Minister Collins Chabane, who visited the area soon after Zuma, promised residents that a boarding school for 85 pupils, and an education and training college, would be established in the area. He said the hours of the local Home Affairs office would be extended. Yet nothing happened: there is no boarding school, no college, no improvement in the work-ethic of home affairs officials, no improvement in the lives of the people of Siyathemba.
I suspect this disconnection between the promises and the actual deeds of the Zuma government lies at the heart of the harsh criticism of Zuma’s promiscuity. Just as we believed the President when he apologised in 2006 for sleeping with the daughter of a friend and said he was sorry, we also believed him last year when he made all the promises of how his government would do things differently and make things better.
We were dreaming, of course: Out would go the failed policies of heartless old Thabo and his cronies. In would come the caring, confident and efficient Zuma administration to fix the education and the health care systems and service delivery problems, the corruption and nepotism. We would all live happily ever after. But these problems are not easily fixed and at the very least require decisive, brave and principled leadership. This kind of leadership has been completely absent from the Zuma government.
So for most people nothing seemed to have changed. Whether one is a member of the chattering classes or an unemployed youth in Siyathemba township, it is difficult not to feel some apprehension about the gap between the wonderful rhetoric of President Zuma and his government (on HIV, on corruption, on service delivery) on the one hand, and the rather dismal and depressing reality of the non-realisation of these promises on the other.
I suspect that when South Africans learnt that Zuma yet again had unprotected sex out of wedlock with a friend’s daughter, many were incensed not only because they were ready to judge the President on moral grounds. Instead many of us saw parallels between this scandal and the President’s performance as head of state. While he had claimed to be a pastor in church and had endorsed the government’s HIV prevention policy in public, he had behaved in a manner in private that fundamentally contradicted this public persona and utterances. This looked eerily similar to the disconnection between the many promises he and his government Ministers have made to us over the past eight months and the reality of broken promises and business as usual politics.
For many South Africans Zuma’s bedroom life could indeed shed light on his ability to lead us effectively, as it seems to demonstrate quite starkly that he is a man who would say anything, promise anything, and do anything when the camera lights are trained on him, but would often do exactly the opposite when no one was looking.
The President’s sexual indiscretions became a metaphor for the larger indiscretions of his government and underlined the stark fact that we had elected as our President someone whose words could seldom if ever be trusted. Whether this will ultimately mean the end of Zuma’s political career I cannot say. What I do know is that recent revelations about Zuma’s private life have fundamentally eroded the President’s credibility, exactly because it mirrored the way in which he runs the government and the party that he is president of.
Or….it could just be that most South Africans care more about his apparent sexual inappropriateness (moralistic and prurient as it may seem) and less about his policy failures. Maybe this is what people REALLY pay attention to, and not the more important matters of principle and policy and law!
I mean, I know that this is a blog about constitutional law and all, but how many South Africans really care, much less know what the constitution is all about? What are their REAL expectations of Zuma–do they expect him to be able to change big, huge things (like the economy), or do they expect him to behave like a decent human being? Or, to put the same question in another way, a failure in which area disappoints them most? I think that it is clearly the latter.
@ PM
Madam Zille will not allow you anywhere near the constituition. Only the Presidents sex life is up for discussion.
“Out would go the failed policies of heartless old Thabo and his cronies”
Sometimes the-owner-of-this-blog writes something so out of tune, that I am left with no option but to assume that the-owner-of-this-blog does not understand what he is writing about. In this instance the-owner-of-this-blog does not seem to understand what TM was charged with delivering. And hence, what checklist, TM’s legacy, in whatever form, should have.
I guess the main problem is that many people, including the-owner-of-this-blog, just cannot grasp the fullness of what had to be done.
Actually, I think that the washing of fet is quite a big thing, if done without cynicism. It takes humility to place oneself in that “inferior” position,a nd in this context constituted an acknowledgement that there was something wrong that had to be made up for.
President Zuma has now exposed to all to see a total lack moral standing and policy thrust in his administration. Now South Africa is saddled with an individual totally lacking in family values and virtue. This has become plainly clear barely a year in his administration. I now wonder which world capital will takes us seriously in economic, diplomatic, health, environmental and science in global discourse. This point was explicitly illustrated at Davos were the wellbeing of his household became a topical issue. Now the question arises whether Mr. Zuma by continuing being in office advances the interests of the Republic. Time will surely set us right. But what is currently known is that we have an Economic Minister who came into office without a blueprint of how South Africa will respond and align itself to the current global trends or do we still regard tourism as a panacea to our economic ills. This are the matters that Mr Zuma should occupy himself with not this thing of his libido.
khosi says: February 10, 2010 at 14:19 pm
“I guess the main problem is that many people, including the-owner-of-this-blog, just cannot grasp the fullness of what had to be done.”
I know I’m slightly off topic, but since 2007 I’ve been trying to justify TM’s decision to run for re-election in Polokwane with no luck. Finally JZ has helped me to understand: TM, as someone who had worked closely with JZ, knew exactly what kind of a leader we were about to get and, true to his love for his beloved country, he took it upon himself to try and stop what was about to happen – even if it meant that he would embarass himself. Such a pity he did not succeed.
He must be looking at us now saying “you’d wish you had voted for me”. I guess it is true afterall, the man is a genius and he was able to see what most of us did not see – a disaster in the form of Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma!!
Well Prof: your current post is great. You’ve covered so many bases so succinctly. Each paragraph requires thought, and numerous responses come to mind. I suggest you leave it up for a few days.
On a Dream Deferred by Sipho Ngcobo at Moneyweb today, it appears he blames whites for the problems SA is challenged with in respect to resolving today’s issues, rather than more wisely accepting that since the ANC has been in power for over 15 years, and since it is government’s role to manage this country successfully, it is they who have failed, not the whites who have little policy or political power. The ANC has hopelessly failed to provide or manage, and they persistently refuse to recognize that being in power where the buck is intended to stop, they are to blame for the failures. I say it again, their fault, their failures. I have no guilt. I, like most whites I know, do the best we can in an oppressive and threatening environment.
Whether we utilize analogies such as God Father or monarchy for the ANC, the proof is in the pudding. As my friend Nettie Pikeur said, once quoted in a Die Burger editorial: ‘when the vinegar is off to start with the results are inevitably disastrous.’
My response: we must not let up. Let the truth be known, let the scoundrels be revealed, wherever she and he may lie (or is it ‘lay’.)
@ Pierre
“[W]e … believed [Zuma] last year when he made all the promises of how his government would do things differently and make things better.”
Pierre, who exactly is “we” who had so much faith in JZ last year?
It certainly did not include me.
And did you really believe, even for a second, that 500,000 jobs would be created? Could anyone with any understanding of the economy have swallowed that?
It is for his propenity to speak such nonsense that people should be angry at Zuma. Let them focus on this — and forget about his sex life.
propenity = propensity
mzo says:
February 10, 2010 at 15:53 pm
I think what mzo says is true. Compared to Thabo Mbeki I see Jacob Zuma as an intellectual dwarf, and TM knew it all along.
Its not about JZ’s lack of morality as such that makes me worry, but his inability to act responsibly and with discretion in his private life. Say for instance Shaik’s version is true, that his payments to and on behalf of JZ was just a loan, then it still means that JZ took a loan he could never repay. Those who voted him into power should have known that a man who does not have the ability to run his own affairs, should not be entrusted to run a country.
Prof, I agree with your assessment of Zuma wholeheartedly, he has let most of us, South Africans, down, but I dout if you ever believed in his promises last year.
Interesting that Pierre says “Last year, in what was hailed as a welcome break with previous government practice, Zuma made an unannounced visit to the Siyathemba township outside Balfour after service delivery protests and later announced measures that would address the community’s demands.” We have just had them burning down their own LIBRARY and causing other mayhem in the same Siyathemba township. Seems Zuma has the time and energy for service delivery in the form of making presidential sperm donations and adding yet another mouth to feed but otherwise the guy is impotent.
mzo says:
February 10, 2010 at 15:53 pm
“He must be looking at us now saying “you’d wish you had voted for me”. I guess it is true afterall, the man is a genius and he was able to see what most of us did not see – a disaster in the form of Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma!!”
It cannot be that the ANC has only two possible choices for President!
Whatever happened to the notion of succession planning?
Where have all the good guys gone?
Mdu says:
February 10, 2010 at 18:03 pm
“Prof, I agree with your assessment of Zuma wholeheartedly, he has let most of us, South Africans, down, but I dout if you ever believed in his promises last year”.
Although it is probably entirely wrong, it seems that his chosen PR people are carefully orchestrating his political downfall.
Many of us who supported Zuma are pissed off that he has allowed himself to get into the front pages for the wrong reasons.
“New ministers are thinking about the recession and no longer spending large amounts on luxury cars, President Jacob Zuma said on Thursday. ” http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-08-06-zuma-ministers-cars-no-longer-an-issue.
Oh well – many of his carefully selected ministers and deputy ministers ignored him and went ahead to spend large amounts on luxury cars while there is very little publicity about progress made by this administration to celebrate.
Instead we are bombarded by innocent lives lost by the untamed actions of irresponsible police persons following the “shoot to kill” policy, harassment of good South Africans by the blue light brigade despite the SAPS inability to stop criminals using blue lights to commit crimes, hospitals running out of funds for the most basic of provisions, terrible matric results, service delivery protests around the country …….
“What is a crook?” with Sir David Frost on Al Jezeera.
An appalling interview with Redi Direko in many respects.
The most newsworthy thing to emerge from the panel on Zuma and South Africa moderated by Fareed Zakaria at Davos, is polygamy.
And the appointments of Simelane and Qwelane, the possible parole of de Kok and Shaik.
Ministers attacking each other, fractural attacks on senior government and ANC members, debates on nationalisation degenerating to open and brazen blackmail …….
And while all this and more is going on, in the two weeks leading up to probably the most prestigious opening of parliament since 1994 the most media dominated story is that of our President fathering an illegitimate child with the daughter of his friend.
http://constitutionallyspeaking.co.za/1936/
Why is the Von Abo link not working? I have a chirp!
“most South Africans really could care less. The first is that all of this talk of judicial independence and constitutionalism might seem awfully high-minded to salt-of-the-earth sort of South Africans. The second is that many South Africans probably don’t see this hugely important concept as being immediately relevant to their lives. Accordingly, they just dismiss it themselves or effectively allow others to dismiss it for them.What I would like to determine is whether our political writers have considerd earnestly enough whether there are ways to make the import and relevance of judicial and also prosecutorial independence – and incidently, the gravity of the ANC’s transgressions – more accessible to the citizenry. The right message articulated in the wrong way is typically pretty useless”
I correspondingly sit and ponder likewise? …The Above comment posted elsewhere on this site by Leigh.
The question is do these ppl the” salt- of -the- earth-sort” actually take the opportunity to read what our political writers have to say? If not how is the message made effortlessly and practicable?
Ans: zuma
simple words by a man who is the “salt of the earth sort”, by speech writes who know when to hijack a forum which coincidently marks the anniversary of the release of an icon>>
All spin doctoring! Age old politics, & “the salt of the earth sort”, like lambs to the slaughter.
Mandela has once again obviously saved the ANC`s day & choice.
All will be aroused by his speech tonite !!
The attacks on JZ are baseless.
I don’t care what anyone says.
He’s the best fucking President we’ve ever had.
Mikhail Dworkin Fassbinder says:
February 11, 2010 at 7:29 am
How can you say Mikhail? – Isn’t that for the women to judge?
A bit of a laugh:
“New Element Discovered in South Africa to Be Included on the Periodic Table:
The Nuclear Physics Department of the University of Stellenbosch has discovered the heaviest element yet known to science. The new element, Governmentium (Gv), has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons, and 198 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.
These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons. Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert; however, it can be detected, because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A tiny amount of Governmentium can cause a reaction that would normally take less than a second, to take from 4 days to 4 years to complete.
Governmentium has a normal half-life of 2 – 6 years. It does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places. In fact, Governmentium’s mass will actually increase over time, since each re-organization will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes. This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a critical concentration.
This hypothetical quantity is referred to as critical morass.
When catalyzed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium, an element that absorbs just as much energy as Governmentium since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons.”
I hope we will not be tempted compare the sex lives of our current and previous presidents BECAUSE WE MIGHT JUST OPEN A BIG CAN OF WORMS.
I do not approve of the way JZ is expanding his family on all dimensions but that does not making him the worst president. Higly moral cabinet minister we had in Asmal and others who are good family men were disaster when it came to their cabinet responsibilities. To those who support TM, you are fooling yourselves that this is the main reason why TM/Cope/Third termers GROUP wanted to stop JZ from ascending to power.
I hope one day we will be able to accept failures of the ANC to deliver on the promises of liberation and indeed admit the failures of TM a a president to lead that transformation without blaming everyone around him. JZ is in power now and he must also be judged using the same yardstick. Yes he is starting to miss golden opportunities and is failing to stop the corruption that he inherited.
Again with all his faults he is yet to underperform to the same level as the previous administration. Most of TM or previous ANC policies failed to deliver and the fact that they are not yet replaced does not change make them good. JZ was pushed into a corner by DA and others in the ANC who wanted the old order to continue such as Trevor Manuel.
He might pay dearly for not introducing the change that was the centre of his campaign. His sexual activities are also giving ammunition to his opponents.
Oi , Oi , Oi …. !!! Now the university of Stellenbosch will be accused of drinking to much wine & eating too many grapes. there goes the LLB
___________________________________________________
Anonymouse says:
February 11, 2010 at 7:55 am
Mikhail Dworkin Fassbinder says:
February 11, 2010 at 7:29 am
How can you say Mikhail? – Isn’t that for the women to judge?
@ Dworky
Do you know the fucking history of the other presidents?
Gwebecimele says:
February 11, 2010 at 8:11 am
If the stories that abound are anything to go by, JZ might well be considered more favourably.
Like the argument that our constitutional democracy is done a terrible disservice by referencing it against apartheid, it would be a disservice to JZ to comapre the worst of Presidents.
He was elected to take us out of the kak – the best news that is coming out is how bad the other guys were, which we already know and that is part of the reason that he had such strong voter support.
Now if his PR people can only get their fingers out their noses and do some work that they are paid to do!
Yes. I have researched the subject extensively for my forthcoming book “Tumesence in die Tuinhuys” (Penguin 2010.)
http://www.moneyweb.co.za/mw/view/mw/en/page295023?oid=346035&sn=2009+Detail&pid=287226
This what I call BEE.
Gwebecile , you prob same species similar genus to Bob
Gwebecimele says:
February 11, 2010 at 9:21 am
Except for the complexion, doesn’t that guy on the photo next to the article you linked (at the heading) resemble Adolf Hitler?
@ Ehud
The irony is that there without any anouncement of figures in SA we achieved and still maintaining a WEE of more than 80% ownership and control of all sectors except for the TAXI AND TRADITIONAL HEALING.
@ Anony
You might be right and I guess there are lot of similarities in their management styles.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/news/article302469.ece
Interesting stats especially to those who pretend to set the agenda.
It looks like Malema is walking on a tight rope.
I suspect this year might be his lat year of relevance. The bling is putting a dim light on him.
Gwebecimele, I agree> JZ will battle to trump TM’s lows.
Eugene Terreblanche would have never in his wildest imaginings have thought to scare his followers with the spectre of total inaction by a completely irresponsible black President who did nothing in the face of a plague that condemned 7 million of his countrymen and women (and children) to a painful, lingering death.
Terreblanche might have conceived the notion that the ANC would ‘transform’ the criminal justice system to a point where only one in 12 families of the victims of murder would have the closure of a trial, conviction and punishment (where the perpetrators do not escape – not only justice, but from custody!)
I suggest that even Terreblanche would have been hard-put to predict approaching half-a-million murders from 1994 – 2010.
Now, Maggs, if you want to rebut that accusation give us the different prosecuting authorities’ conviction rates from1987-1997 and 1997-2010.
Gwebecimele says:
February 11, 2010 at 11:19 am
“The irony is that there without any anouncement of figures in SA we achieved and still maintaining a WEE of more than 80% ownership and control of all sectors except for the TAXI AND TRADITIONAL HEALING.”
It is an interesting phenomenon that the SMME development equated to minibus taxis, street traders, taverns, hawkers, spaza shops, cell phone booths, back yard hairdressers and the like.
The philosophy behind the White Paper on Small Business developed by then Minister of Trade and Industry, Trevor Manuel, which was and excellent policy and concept document eventually succumbed to the leadership battle and was discarded just at the time that results were beginning to be seen and the efforts that went in were bearing results.
Zuma at the time was the most active and vociferous MEC on SMME matters to the extent that the entire SMME sector activists across the country, unanimously nominated Zuma as the national SMME champion.
So now we’re back to taxi-recap, flea market stalls, sewing clubs and the like.
Gwebecimele says:
February 11, 2010 at 11:21 am
“@ Anony
You might be right and I guess there are lot of similarities in their management styles.”
Yeah, you’re right – Adolf Hitler was against anything (or anybody) not Arian or German (particularly Jews and Gypsies), while uncle Bob Mugabe is against anything (or anybody) not Mashona (particularly Matabeles and English ‘boertjies’). I tell you, the physical likeness is as uncanny as is the likeness of their respective governance styles.
“Zuma had a fun relationship with a lady.”
- SASCO Gen. Sec. Lazola Ndumase, 10 Feb. 2010.
I tend to think that Zuma’s sexual antics could conceivably have an adverse bearing on his standing with the masses. Speaking generally, I reckon two reasons can be advanced in support of that view. The first, as the Professor makes out, is that a large portion of the electorate in this dodgy land of ours is pretty moralistic at heart. For one thing, and as the Professor suggests, Zuma’s rise to political favour may well have been predicated, in large measure, on the electorate’s moralistic tendencies – Mbeki being the bully and Zuma the persecuted underdog. And for another thing, I would suggest with all respect that many in our electorate are not especially sophisticated people. That is, when many in our country seek to determine whether to endorse or oppose a politician, they do not necessarily need good reasons to do so. But they do need reasons that they can understand. It seems to me that they now have such a reason to sour towards Zuma: as regards both his personal and political undertakings, Zuma promises one thing and does the contrary. The inescapable conclusion: this guy is not to be trusted.
The second reason as to why there may just be something to this apparent outrage about Zuma’s sexual antics is simply that Zuma is not the man to deliver. That is, we have had all sorts of indications to the effect that Zuma probably does not reach even the lowest bar of sophistication. For one, this is a man who seriously sought to guard against HIV infection after unprotected sex by having a shower. He is also the president of a constitutional democracy which unequivocally recognises prosecutorial independence. And yet our witless leader managed to misunderstand that. These examples are two doughnuts in a well-stocked bakery. So the question is really whether such a singularly unimpressive man could make enough sense of the pressing concerns facing our country to lead us to more prosperous times. A reasonable woman may well say that the answer is no.
In sum, an unsophisticated electorate could well draw unsophisticated inferences – although I still see good sense in deducing from the totality of Zuma’s failures to carry out his personal and political undertakings that he is untrustworthy. And Zuma has neither the wit nor the means to fulfil his wrongheaded promises. That is, he has no relevant political ability to serve as counterweight against the unflattering light in which he deserves to be cast. Thus it could be that his latest cock-up could hurt him in the wider order o things.
Gwebecimele says:
February 11, 2010 at 11:29 am
It looks like Malema is walking on a tight rope.
I suspect this year might be his lat year of relevance. The bling is putting a dim light on him.
>>
on the contrary his stark reminder to mandela about nationalization was quite the hype today! Malema for president !! Knock knock….
__________________________________________________
So now we’re back to taxi-recap, flea market stalls, sewing clubs and the like.
>>
We left?
Subtle information about the awarding of contracts is given to SMME
applicants that have tendered, and there are no records kept to monitor how many SMMEs have managed to win government tenders;
Payments due from government contracts are prejudicial to SMMEs, which are often required to supply onerous guarantees and sureties.Parastatals usually pay ninety days after completion of the order? – which might have taken a SMME several months to carry. Corruption is perceived as the major problem why SMMEs do not receive tenders.
The promotion of SMMEs is seen as an instrument to foster employment creation is non – evident entrepreneurs’ perceptions, point to the state constraining effects of labour market regulations, and in particular
minimum wages.
In comparison with many other developing countries, the contribution of South
Africa’s SMMEs to employment and economic growth is low.
Michael, let me aplogise in advance for the fairly lengthy and inelegant question I want to ask of you. But with that apology neatly out of the way: can you and I agree that the question that the Professor has sought to address is not whether Zuma’s sexual behaviour, of itself, is politically relevant but rather whether many South Africans could conclude that given that Zuma does not do as he personally and politcially promises to do, it could follow that he is untrustworthy?
http://www.news24.com/Content/SouthAfrica/Madiba20/4086/db0b1c01f48c421884fc5f7af694ee5d/11-02-2010-02-44/De_Klerk_not_a_hero_-_Malema
gotta just luv this guy!
http://www.news24.com/Content/SouthAfrica/Madiba20/4086/10a6dfd365f8459290af2a8589a426b7/11-02-2010-12-29/Mandela_supported_nationalisation
@ Leigh
I do not know what is the basis of Pierre’s conclusion that the majority of South Africans are “overwhelmingly negative.”
Have there been polls?
I suspect it is the chattering classes who are outraged, and that many in the masses quite like a rascal.
And no, I do not think JZ’s baby shows he is not trustworthy. There is no necessary contradiction between a general message of safe sex and a decision to have a child with someone you love,
There is one thing that mitigates against Leigh’s pretty accurate analysis of JZ’s woes. He seems to be a fairly decent if flawed human being. Not the malicious little man his predecessor was by a long shot.
Who among us has no flaws, no private demons? IMHO the reason Matthews Phosa and Sexwale got back into politics so quickly is they knew the nature of the beast.
The masses love nothing better than turning on their man-of-the-masses.
JZ has to be sold a turn-around strategy that is fitting in this 20th anniversary of Mandela’s release, that would revive the dream of a rainbow nation and get us back some of that squandered international aid/investor goodwill that resounds in $$$$.
It can be done, and the infidelities are the perfect excuse. Step back, JZ, apologise, acknowledge you are in over your head, ask Motlanthe (or, even better, Manatshe, the brightest of the lot) to take over and revive a GNU.
Then sit back and watch a magnificiently successful world cup.
JZ gave his country the greatest gift he possibly could: He rid it of its Mugabe-in-waiting.
Michael, you advance that the Professor’s basis for concluding that the majority of South Africans have reacted ‘overwhelmingly negatively’ to the freshest revelation about Zuma is unclear. Let me say three things here: one, I admit that I held to a similar view to the Professor; two, my view was, I suppose, predicated to some extent on press communications and three, it can’t really be in contention that the press can be unreliable. In sum, perhaps the Professor and I reached a little too far – but I cannot not speak for the Professor here so while I suggest that he, too, may have overreached, you will need his concession or rebuttal.
However, in the first of my posts in this discussion, I presented a materially different contention: I said that it is conceivable (not necessary or conclusive) that Zuma’s conduct could bear adversely upon his standing with the masses. With respect, could it be that you attacked a straw man? I could be wrong. And if I am, I apologise.
Moreover, and with all respect, I did not suggest that there is a necessary contradiction between (a) a safe-sex message and (b) a decision to have a child with someone you love. My case was that it is hardly inconceivable that members of the citizenry could infer from the disconnect between Zuma’s professions and acts that (a) he does not do as he says he will and (b), this suggests he is not trustworthy.
You will recall from a recent discussion that both the Professor and I accepted some of your concerns to the effect that there are not enough facts in the public to truly determine whether Zuma is the dirt-ball that at least some of us think he is. That being said, I respectfully suggest that you also err in that you appear to opt for the other extreme: that we the public have nothing from which to deduce that Zuma advocated one thing as regards sexual responsibility and then did the converse and that this, taken together with his other unfulfilled undertakings, does not suggest any lack of trustworthiness on his part. In short, while it’s true that Zuma’s detractors on the current untrustworthiness score do not have a case that would hold up in court, we certainly have grounds for believing that the general public (and not just the chattering class) could draw some adverse inferences about our decidedly unimpressive commander-in-chief.
‘I cannot not’ should read: ‘I cannot…’
@ Michael,
On reflection, you are right insofar as some of my points do suppose that there is a necessary contradiction between a safe-sex message and a decision to have a child with someone you love – although if you are speaking about Zuma specifically, I am not sure as to whether he actually loves his newest baby-mama. So perhaps the better view is that (i) there is a potential contradiction here between Zuma’s safe sex advocacy and the fact that he had an extra-marital kid and (ii), that taken together with his other failures to fulfil undertakings, people could infer that he is not trustworthy.
Ehud Olmert says:
February 11, 2010 at 13:25 pm
“So now we’re back to taxi-recap, flea market stalls, sewing clubs and the like.
>>
“We left?”
——————————————————————————————————–
My response went awol!
I’ll try again.
The issues you raise that adversely impact on small business is part of the challenges facing SMMEs. Criminality (corruption, coercion, blackmail, fronting and the like) is a reality. And then there’s that infernal buzzword, outsourcing – often a euphemism for externalisation of exploitation.
The framework for the development and promotion of SMMEs was presented in a thoroughly researched and documented policy in 1995. Support mechanisms, statutory bodies, parastatals and civil society sector bodies were established.
The SMME sector itself was mobilised and organised, through organised business movements and loose formations across the country, across business and economic sectors, with a view to championing their own cause, lobbying and advocacy.
But it, the then organised SMME sector missed a beat. It recognised Zuma, at the time the MEC for Economic Affairs in KZN as the national champion of small business. That was a direct result of Zuma at the time being the strongest (sometimes only) voice at that level in support of the SMME sector.
Out went the then organised sector, back to the fringes of the economy. Out went the associated initiatives, some up and running, some ready to launch. And with that went the aspirations of thousands of women and men who dared to nominate one J G Zuma as their national champion. The man who would be President – the cheek of it. Eish!
So now we’re back to taxi-recap, flea market stalls, sewing clubs and the like!
Leigh says:
February 11, 2010 at 18:21 pm
The impression I got from reading Michael’s comment is that Zuma fathering a child (or even many children) out of wedlock ought to be the least of our concerns.
Many people were angry, annoyed, irritated or displeased at varying levels. Steam has been let off. Now for many people it’s back to business.
Several people whom I have spoken with in the last few days say that the nation was given the space to express their views in all manner of ways – it’s time to let our President get back to doing that which he was elected to do.
Labouring that issue is probably unwise.
The president now needs to be assessed against and engaged on the nation’s priorities, the ANCs election manifesto and our country’s constitution.
Maggs, you started off well then omitted to mention the kind of person the ANC ‘deployed’ to the SBDC, to the IDC, to the LANDBANK – surely THE potential engines of small business development.
Incidentally, like Baragwanath Hospital, like Leratong Hospital, like Grootte Schuur Hospital (Like Falkenburg? May be of interest to you?) the SBDC, IDC, Landbank were all created during the Apartheid era, not so? Like the policy of de-centralisation.
You might also want to examine the impact on small business of foreign divestment in the mining sector after the ANC elite went shopping for mines and mineral-rights for friends. Drive the back-roads to Carletonville, Klerksdorp etc one day.
Go to former ‘capitals’ of ‘homelands’ like Giyani or LebuaKgomo one day. See what the ANC-trek to cities with malls has done to those small towns.
Brett Nortje says:
February 11, 2010 at 19:32 pm
“Maggs, you started off well then omitted to mention the kind of person the ANC ‘deployed’ to the SBDC, to the IDC, to the LANDBANK – surely THE potential engines of small business development.”
Agreed.
There’s much more to this than can be said here.
Maggs, I’d like to offer two points in response to your post. The first is that the mere fact that Zuma has had an extramarital kid is politically irrelevant. However, I do think that that fact discloses that there is a potential contradiction between Zuma’s safe sex advocacy on the one hand, and his conduct on the other. I also think that given his status as the president, it is (a) not unreasonable to expect of him an explanation that would either confirm or refute that potential contradiction and (b), in the absence of such an exposition, and taking into account other instances in which Zuma failed to carry out his undertakings, people are justified in drawing an adverse inference. And that inference is that Zuma is untrustworthy.
The second point is that I am not sure that people should just swiftly let this possible instance of hypocrisy slide. And I say so for two reasons. One, as regards the ANC generally and Zuma narrowly, the whole ‘let-this-slide, give-me-a-pass-on-this-one’ tactic is getting mightily annoying. If we fail to acknowledge the potential for hypocrisy from the president, and if we fail to hold him at all accountable by failing to have him tender a convincing exposition that would properly explain away the possible hypocrisy here, then we communicate to Zuma and the ANC yet again that when they stuff up – either obviously or apparently – they need only tender mindless excuses and ask for a pass. That could just encourage the same smug conceit from them. Two, I think it could well be that many people in our country are insufficiently critical of Zuma. Many just have not called our dodgy chief out on (a) the Mpshe decision itself, (b) the illicitly obtained tapes which the Zuma team used when making representations, (c) the Shaik and Cele appointments which were patently self-serving and (d) his habit of letting Radebe take fairly regular dumps on the judicial arm of government to name just some of Zuma’s overabundance of inglorious displays. In brief, Zuma’s run thus far has been comparable to a tough opening partnership in a test cricket match in that the side doing the fielding – that is, those of us who were clear about who our president is from the outset – just could not figure out what needed to give before the over-ardent Zuma partisans started to give. This incident with Khosa’s daughter, in a sense, constitutes the loss of the important first wicket. I think that maybe our press and talking heads should either ride this for a while or, if it’s prudent to avoid saturating the public and thereby possibly making Zuma seem a victim, then drop this for now but keep it in the kitty as it were.
Leigh says:
February 11, 2010 at 21:19 pm
“I think that maybe our press and talking heads should either ride this for a while or, if it’s prudent to avoid saturating the public and thereby possibly making Zuma seem a victim, then drop this for now but keep it in the kitty as it were.”
Neat.
I was inspired by what I heard in the state of the nation.
External moderation of exams for grades 3, 6 and 9 – that’s pretty nifty solution all round.
Ministers will be held to account against defined, measurable standards.
And more.
Hats of to JZ.
Maggs is right.
If only we had had “defined, measurable standards” in the past.
Now we do. It will make a big difference.
Yes.
2010 is to be the “Year of Action.”
The time for talk, promises, planning and preparation is past.
Action this year!
Inspiring.
Maggs is ‘inspired’ by the state of the nation address. Leave him alone! Like most South Africans he has an infinite capacity to hear what he wants to hear and not hear what he does not want to hear.
That is not unique – other followers of this blog – who pass themselves off as an intellectual elite do that too.
When I looked at The Citizen’s local news headlines there were still 5 on the tickertape involving crime committed by members of the SAPS. ID parades for rape, murder, blue-light thugs, revolting police reservists – you name it. Mebers of the SAPS did it Monday.
Speaking of revolting, is it not revolting that some of you still refuse to hold the SAPS to the standards you do gun owners? When gun owners do not commit property crimes and crimes of passion at nearly the rate members of the SAPS do – and they have service firearms that you will not touch?
Want to see your ‘liberal’ commentator pretend to be deaf, blind, and mute? Mention that home inspections by members of the SAPS into the homes of gunowners infringe on their right to privacy and are inconsistent with the Con Court rulings in Mistry and Mahanjane. Mention that guns are property, movable corporeals, you know, central to the property concept according to Ackerman in FNB?
Wait! Selective amnesia as well?
Pierre, are you aware that for some reason your comments facility displays the name and email address fields pre-populated with the details of the last person to comment? I can think of a few regular commentators who might prefer their personal details not to be published…
Onto Zuma. I think that for many he embodied the ideal of a poor black African making good – a simple country boy, without a fancy education or pretensions acquired on foreign soil, an example of what an ordinary South African could achieve. So South Africans saw in him their own hopes and aspirations and threw their weight behind him. Now he acquires the reputation of being a sexually incontinent, venal buffoon, embarrassingly out of his depth as President, a humiliating caricature of a so-called “backward African”, the embodiment of the image that Mbeki dismissed as a racist white fantasy when he railed against the perceived notion that “our cultures, religion and social norms as Africans condition us to be rampant sexual beasts unable to control our urges, unable to keep our legs crossed, unable to keep it in our pants.” Ordinary people with conventional moral standards are no longer sure that they want associate their personal aspirations with Zuma. His status as a role model is now equivocal, tinged with embarrassment, for the people who saw him as “one of us”. The result is public anger. It’s no accident that the newspaper that has possibly been the most scathing about the latest Zuma revelations is the Sowetan.
Brett Nortje says:
February 12, 2010 at 9:20 am
“Like most South Africans he has an infinite capacity to hear what he wants to hear and not hear what he does not want to hear.”
Would you like to hear constant moaning?
That is best left to you and Dworky!
It’s worth adding that present day South Africa is assessed in terms of our own life’s experiences – I am generally happy about the way things are (beside the sometimes irritating events) and I am very grateful that we have the government that we have.
@ Dworky and Brett.
“Zille praises Zuma speech
DA leader Helen Zille believes President Jacob Zuma may have borrowed substantially from her party’s policy documents for his state of the nation speech. ”
“Not because imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but because it demonstrates the value of an opposition party with a comprehensive alternative policy platform.”
http://www.timeslive.co.za/news/article304901.ece
So I guess that even Aunty “Like most South Africans .. has an infinite capacity to hear what (she) wants to hear and not hear what (she) does not want to hear.”
Quite right, Maggs! I’ve told that woman time and time again about the side effects of Botox….
Brett Nortje says:
February 12, 2010 at 15:16 pm
Funny Brett!
We know very little about the progress being made in our country.
I reckon that Zuma must change his PR team.
They’re pretty useless.
Maggs is right.
But it is not just a matter shaiking up JZ’s pr team.
We also need to do something about the ceaseless negativism od the liberal media. Nonsense about SA having the highest level of inequality, a non-functional education system etc. And the M&G whinging about a new corruption scandal every week.
I am all in favour of freedom of the press.
But there are limits.
Mikhail Dworkin Fassbinder says:
February 13, 2010 at 7:45 am
Hey Dworky
That our government has PR teams who are useless serves well to portray your projection that our country as one which zero good is happening – Government Communications in general and Zuma’s PR team in particular needs serious revamping.
While your view is of no consequence, my concern is that unless the message gets out that South Africa is working and serious publicity around real progress is given, the people to whom it matters most may well believe that nothing good is being achieved.
Maggs, while I think you make some sense in principle, I do think, with respect, that your PR-related comments are pretty far-fetched.
You contend that Zuma’s PR-people should do more to inform the public about headway that the ANC has made. As I mentioned earlier, this point makes some sense on the level of principle. Press publications aim at making sales – and sensations are what sells often enough. Thus one could argue that those publications would be inclined to concentrate on ANC cock-ups rather than ANC successes. And as this line of reasoning continues, the ANC PR-people ought to make ANC successes public as doing so would counteract the distorted, lopsidedly negative press about the ANC that is presently doing the rounds.
But implicit in your position is the view that the ANC may have some reasonably substantial successes to report. And it is this decidedly improbable view that undermines your case. The press, the talking heads and the opposition parties all have a fair bit to say about the ANC. Given just the proofs for and regularity of the criticisms they level against Zuma’s dodgy crew, I would be inclined to distrust ANC. (And on a personal note, I would like to state that I think better of several disease than I do of Zuma’s administration.) But in addition, the ANC does nothing to refute those criticisms. That is, the ANC either says nothing, offers bone-headed explanations or its prominent figures make stupid promises or suggestions. In brief, if the ANC could show cogent grounds to make the political, social and economic picture in our country seem less bleak, then they would. But the first months of Zuma’s term have seen them do precious little of the sort. So the logical conclusion seems to be that the ANC does not report successes because it has mainly cock-ups and scandals to show.
Leigh says:
February 13, 2010 at 9:18 am
Ok – our points of departure are different. As you say “And on a personal note, I would like to state that I think better of several disease than I do of Zuma’s administration”.
There is no dispute that there are structurally and systemically entrenched factors, inherited and exacerbated post 1994 by some very poor decisions.
I am sure yet whether I am pissed off with Zuma for keeping his zip on steroids or for not offering the leadership and direction that we immediately – beyond that I am very confident that this administration is what we require now.
There is a lot going on beyond the occasional surprise visits to lazy civil servants and troubled areas – it’s that which we ought to be informed about.
Even the nullifidians!
Maggs, you say that there is a lot going on apart from the occasional surprise visit to a lazy civil servant and so on. And by ‘a lot’, I am going to assume that you mean positive things that the ANC does as any contrary suggestion would support my view.
I think you and I could agree that many of the press reports about the ANC are unflattering towards the party. Your view seems to be that the ANC PR-people should be doing more to counteract that negative press with stories of the ANC’s successes or well-conceived endeavours. My view is this: it is decidedly unlikely that the ANC has any substantial successes to report. I base this view on (a) the regularity of the criticisms against the ANC and (b) the nature of ANC responses to criticisms. I think the cumulative effect of points (a) and (b) here is this: the PR-people don’t say much about positive ANC strides because there simply is not much to be said. That is, perhaps the most obvious ways to counter bad press are to (a) circulate some positive reports and (b) tender some sensible refutations of the bad press. Even the ANC can be expected to understand that given that it is so obvious. The point that apparently the ANC PR-people do not suggests that all they can do to reduce the adverse impact of bad press is to come up with feeble explanations or to deflect.
Maggs, while I agree with Leigh on every point she made, (facts being facts being facts) do you realise how important the point is you made:
my concern is that unless the message gets out that South Africa is working and serious publicity around real progress is given, the people to whom it matters most may well believe that nothing good is being achieved.
Leigh, do you realise how important the point is Maggs made? Have you guys refreshed your memories wrt the Davies J-Curve theory?
Maggs, I am immeasurably pained by you assessment that my views are “of no consequence.”
But even more hurtful is your allegation that our government has “useless” PR teams.
It is time that people like you stop whingeing, cease your obsessive focus on the negative, and give our civil servants due credit for their excellent efforts!
I think Dworky’s views are of great consequence, especially when they relate to my taxonomic expertise.
Leigh says:
February 13, 2010 at 12:02 pm
Saying that things are in shambles is pretty redundant – again I point out that this was recognised by the Polokwane resolutions and the ANC election manifesto and the many news flashes from various government leaders.
Neither is it relevant to what I said which in essence is that there is a lot to celebrate and we need to hear it.
p.s. welcome MAS II.
Maggs, yes, there are many bad things in our country today. It is no use trying to wish them away.
But we need to face facts: Our major problems are all the legacy of apartheid.
That, and the ongoing RACISM of the OVS young men, and the “Botox” Madam!
Maggs, with all respect, you either missed the core thrust of my posts or you chose to ignore that thrust. When I made out that things are in a shambles, I was not just stating the obvious. In addition, I made that point as part of a broader position. And that broader position is this: if we can expect rational behaviour from the ANC, then we can expect the party to (a) offer cogent refutations of bad press and (b) counteract bad press by putting forward examples of jobs well-done. That apparently the ANC does little of either – especially given the prevalence of bad press about the ANC generally and, more narrowly, about certain ANC figures – gives me to believe that either (a), the party is generally irrational or more likely (b), the party has precious little good news to report.
So I will make out again that insofar as your position appears to presuppose that the ANC PR-people could do more, I continue to think that you are far too optimistic. That is, in your post to which I initially responded (the one at 6:33am February 13) you make out that Zuma’s PR-team could do a better job of communicating to us the ‘progress’ that is being made. Given the shots that are frequently taken at the party and Zuma, those PR-people have every incentive to make such communications. That apparently they do not speaks volumes.
Firstly re. the von Abo report, which has no comment facility: why ?
PdV wrote: “There are three reasons why …First, …Second,…Lastly,…”
Who needs to attend law school, with such lucid on-line tutorials ?
Does PdV produce this mass of original analysis alone or does he have a team of slaves ?
——
Re. the current topic of JZ’s fertility, Pufzen says:-
This point was explicitly illustrated at Davos were the well being of his
household became a topical issue.
! Yes the WallStreetJournalist told: “many at Davos are pessemistic about SA:
low & decreasing life expectancy; no solution to HIV; JZ just joking about problems…”
–> Leigh says: I would suggest with all respect that many in our
electorate are not especially sophisticated people. That is, when many in our country seek
to determine whether to endorse or oppose a politician, they do not necessarily need good
reasons to do so. But they do need reasons that they can understand.
! I guess this explains everything, including why the Zimbabwian population CHOSE the
route that they took.
–> Maggs Naidu says:
It’s worth adding that present day South Africa is assessed in terms of our own life’s
experiences – I am generally happy about the way things are (beside the sometimes irritating
events) and I am very grateful that we have the government that we have.
!Yes, when I visited Zim, 3 or 4 years ago, there was this afrikaaner, who’d lost his farm,
or was it his parents farm, but was now working for some mine at double pay. And because he
THEN ‘got’ plenty money, he was quiet sympathetic to the Mugabe-looters.
Leigh says:
February 13, 2010 at 15:37 pm
“Maggs, with all respect, you either missed the core thrust of my posts or you chose to ignore that thrust.”
Neither.
Your “core thrust” establishes mine.
@ Maggs
“Your ‘core thrust’ …”
Can we just lay off the President’s private life now?
Michael Osborne says:
February 14, 2010 at 7:11 am
Only if you undertake to stop using phrases like “just lay”!
Leigh says:
February 13, 2010 at 15:37 pm
On eNews, Lekota when confronted about his own love child and Shilowa’s, said that the President has to measure up to a different standard than ordinary citizens – but then there was hue and cry (rightly so) when different standards were applied to Zuma iro the criminal charges that he faced.
Then there’s the dear madam who says that wrt Leonard Max, if the allegations of extra marital affairs are a “private matter” except iro our President.
oops
Then there’s the dear madam who says that wrt Leonard Max, if the allegations of extra marital affairs are true then that’s a “private matter” except iro our President extra marital affairs are not “private matters”.
I don’t agree that people in high profile positions can claim privacy – anyone who wants privacy must disappear from public life.
Lekota, Shilowa and Max were not appointed to head moral regeneration campaigns!
Is Thabo looking foolish or what?
http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=93635
If I have a love child now I will never be able to convince my wife that I have to measure up to a different standard than the President.
Can someone tell Mr Lekota that Judges(Judiciary) , Executives(President & Ministers) and MP’s should live up to the highest starndards in the society.
Gwebecimele says:
February 15, 2010 at 8:49 am
“Judges(Judiciary) , Executives(President & Ministers) and MP’s should live up to the highest starndards in the society”
Those standards it seems are very flexible, pliable, malleable except when it applies to the ANC.
And the latest seems to be that rigid standards (established on the fly, made up as we go along) only applies to post 2009 high office bearers of the ANC.
@ Mayimele, Khosi and others
Some have been awake while others were yawning. Vavi is right JZ/ANC must review the TM policies.
http://amadlandawonye.wikispaces.com/Mbeki+slash-and-burn+economics,+Duma+Gqubule,+Sunday+Times
Read this article and think of the State of the Nation speech. This is a summary of what was and is still wrong about SA PTY(LTD). Life expectancy , BEE, economic policy , inequality etc.
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20100216060737382C595950
When you think it just can’t get worse.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/article308760.ece
Having watched ANC MP’s how they carefully stick to the prepared speech during debates in parliament, I doubt if this will work.
Gwebecimele says:
February 16, 2010 at 7:59 am
Hoo boy?! Corruption (and nepotism) flowing down from the big man himself, to his girlfriens, (to his children?), to his government structures (at least at Provincioal level in his heimat, KwaZulu-Natal). Is this also part of his culture? I think not. But then again, ever since Dingane and Mpande, Zulu culture has been somewhat suspect when it comes to gaining control of government and governance.
Gwebecimele says:
February 16, 2010 at 8:07 am
“Having watched ANC MP’s how they carefully stick to the prepared speech during debates in parliament, I doubt if this will work”
MPs will proceed cautiously – many people were dismissed for not “towing the party line” or had quit because they could not follow their conscience in in the very recent past.
There’s nothing to protect MPs who challenge the order of the day. There’s not guarantee that a new Chief Whip with a different thinking will not replace Motshega in the foreseeable future.
Unless there are major changes to the way we function, all this is really a lot of hot air.
Anonymouse says:
February 16, 2010 at 8:15 am
Whatever does this mean????
“Is this also part of his culture? I think not. But then again, ever since Dingane and Mpande, Zulu culture has been somewhat suspect when it comes to gaining control of government and governance.”
@ Mouse
Your comment will not go down well with the Zulus around here.
@ Maggs
This Monitoring and Evaluation, Performance contracts are thrown at us as if they are the “Cure all” in Zulu “Zifozonke” of our problems. My greatest worry is that 99% of the Plubic servants are not equiped for this function.
I agree with u this will not work especially in parliament and cabinet level.
There is a big catch in Balfour and the ANC is not ready to press the start button.
Gwebecimele says:
February 16, 2010 at 9:31 am
“I agree with u this will not work especially in parliament and cabinet level.
There is a big catch in Balfour and the ANC is not ready to press the start button.”
Proportional representation is a double edged sword.
Political parties can deploy whomever they want.
And they can recall whomever they want.
Since the advent of the rent-a-crowd brigade we’ve seen the unsoundness of that approach.
I read that “Malema is the only jewel that we have” – if this is true, the ANC that I thought I knew is dead – but I suspect that it’s just one oke sucking up to secure a powerful position. Either way – EISH!
http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=94028
WOW! HOW NICE HE IS
no matter how people talk jacob zuma is our president.we cant take care about his bedroom life.we only take care about service provider.
mandela have improved a lot,then come mbeki, now give our president a chance archieve his manifesto.
SHAPA ZUMA SHAPA!