Features
Jacob Zuma – A New Man for Africa
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As British politicians recently trampled the western sanctity of democracy, and American voters shone a progressive torch that few believed the country was ready to carry, South Africa has walked a familiar, ambiguous political path, caught between societal enlightenment and an inherently African case of corruption and racial nepotism. This ambiguity is represented by Jacob Zuma, South Africa’s newest President, elected in the country’s fourth democratic election. Zuma has the opportunity, popularity and oratory to champion the emancipation of South Africa’s lowest classes or the power, reputation and personal history to lead South Africa backwards into a democratically hostile existence marred by violence, distrust and ignorance.
Mr. Zuma’s political career with the African National Congress (ANC) has been chronicled with heroic tales of antiapartheid exile, self education during ten years imprisonment at Robben Island with Nelson Mandela and punctuated with Zulu tradition. However, that same career has been plagued by personal and political scandals and moments of vocal ignorance. His election as the South African President on May 6 saw Zuma’s powerful personality triumph over charges of rape and corruption and the personal struggle for supreme power of the ANC with former President Thabo Mbeki. It is now Zuma’s task to provide stability to a fragile nation, one traditionally the picture of African democratic solidarity, now entrenched in poverty and chastised by political scandals.
Zuma, a product of humble beginnings has captured the support and hope of those like him, the masses of the slums and shanty towns of South Africa. However, his bond with the impoverished has often been stained by indulgence and a lack of subtlety, and at times Zuma has seemed unprepared to sever tribal and social ties in order to progress as the leader of the ANC. South Africa has the largest HIV/AIDS population in the world, with 5.3 million sufferers, the ninth highest murder rate and recent revelations of political corruption. Zuma’s approach to these issues was anachronistic and ignorant.
President Mbeki’s notoriously scandalous denial of a link between HIV and AIDS and his similarly negligent policy approach has been charged as the cause of 330,000 deaths, as he refused to implement the antiretroviral treatment program. Zuma revealed himself as no more informed or tactful. During the rape trial, of which he was acquitted, he told a court that after having sex with a woman he knew was HIV positive his preferred form of protection was to shower afterwards.
In an ostentatious disregard for the physical and political price violence takes in South Africa, Zuma and supporters throughout the rape trial and recent elections would unite in chorus with Zulu nationalist and apartheid era ANC military faction song, Umshini wami, which translates as “bring me my machine gun.” The inflammatory and inherently violent song exposed disregard for both the problems and progress of South Africa. Infamously, the song was sold as a cellphone ringtone by the Friends of Jacob Zuma Trust during the trial.
In a continent deeply laced with political corruption, South Africa has been a pillar of political and democratic success since the end of apartheid. The four elections since 1994 have seen high turn out, and have progressed without the inimical influence of corruption or violence. However, in 2007 Zuma challenged the reputation of South African politics as he was indicted as part of bribery, corruption fraud and abuse of power charges. Late last year the charges were thrown out on technical procedural grounds. His financial advisor was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
However, while internal and international fears of the controversial past and extroverted disposition of the new president have plenty of fuel, recently Zuma has fashioned himself as a restrained and enlightened public figure with a conservative political style. He has harnessed his charisma and social background to captivate the impoverished population of South Africa, while illustrating a timely tendency towards stability.
The new President appears focused, confident and resilient. Where the articulate, yet aristocratic Mbeki failed to grasp the struggles of the lower class, President Zuma has the ear of the people as he is the voice of the poor and suffering. The first Zulu president, from rural family afflicted by poverty, has seen his rise to power defined against the image of Mbeki. The people need the oratory power and strong hand of Zuma to attack South Africa’s poverty, crime and violence, the facet where the silver-tongued Mbeki failed. Zuma has proposed level solutions with hard headed alternatives, if legal system restructuring proves ineffective he has hinted at the return of the death penalty, seeing direct action as the only solution to South Africa’s darkest problems.
The new President denies any political scars from the corruption charges, instead claiming his discharge as a revelation of the integrity of his administration. Although with shaky reasoning, Zuma has displayed a concentrated effort to dispose of the political plague that has scourged democracy across the African continent. He recently told Newsweek that his most recent court appearance will, in fact, act to strengthen his attack on corruption in South Africa, “People have a perception that once allegations are made, a person is corrupt. It is actually wrong… I’ve never been corrupt and I’m fighting corruption within my organization.”
He has apologized for his shower comment during the rape trial and has condemned Mbeki for his failure to address the issue of HIV/AIDS in South Africa.
Zuma has portrayed himself as an assertive African emblem. Where his predecessor chose a “quiet diplomacy” policy towards Robert Mugabe and his strangle hold on neighbor Zimbabwe, Zuma has been vociferous in his denunciation of the President and his gangsters. He was also vocal in condemnation of the failure of democracy during the Kenyan and Nigerian elections.
While voting in the 2009 South African election still largely stuck to racial lines, Zuma proved inspirational in breaking down traditional voting lines and had particular success in reaching out to the poor Afrikaner population. Nor should the white middle class fear President Zuma’s machine gun, Zuma has professed his commitment to the continued economic growth and stability of South Africa, for both foreign and local investment, as he attempts to steam the emigration of skilled whites. This will begin filling the paralyzing shortages in the healthcare and technical industries.
The selection of an uncontroversial cabinet further revealed Zuma’s developed political smarts. While many hoped and feared Zuma would reward support from the South African Communist Party with a leftist takeover of the cabinet, such fears proved excessive. Many critics forecast the relocation of veteran financial minister and free market trade advocate Trevor Manuel. Although removed from the financial portfolio, Manuel is now in charge of the planning commission and replaced by Pravin Gordhan, the former tax minister lauded by economist’s for raising South African’s revenue.
The election of Zuma raises questions about the democratic direction of a politically fragile nation, but it appears the new President has refined his personal and political approach and will push the African nation forward. Both President Zuma and South Africa have emerged from the election intent on leaving his scandalous personal history in the past. Not only does South Africa’s progress depend on Zuma’s ability to create economic and social continuity, but the development of all of Africa. However, Africa has been littered with leaders whose large personalities lead to an abuse of power for personal gain, and continental-wide degradation. Whether Jacob Zuma can bury his machine gun and his past and lend his personality to the liberation of South Africa’s poor, the maintenance of the country’s economic growth and quash crime and corruption will soon be the latest chapter of Jacob Zuma to be exposed.
Simon is a regular contributor to Deft Magazine and active in the hip hop community in Paris. He earned his Bachelors of Law and Arts from New Zealand's University of Otago, Simon was also a DJ on Radio One Dunedin, in Otago, New Zealand.
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