Zuma puts in place useful pawn stars
President Jacob Zuma once said the ANC was more important than the country. But his conduct shows that neither features in his top priorities.
They are merely a means to an end.
It is abundantly clear the primary motive for Tuesday’s Cabinet reshuffle was to hand former state security minister David Mahlobo the keys to the energy department.
That R1-trillion nuclear deal continues to beckon and a nifty reshuffle marks yet another trick in a bag that is rapidly emptying. Zuma has gone through a string of ministers in energy and finance who have simply failed to deliver on the nuclear front.
Mahlobo has proven useful, given his involvement in the energy deal between the Central Energy Fund and Rosgeo, a Russian state-owned company, as reported in the Sunday Times in September.
It is clear the ANC is a nonentity for Zuma — once again he simply informed his counterparts in the top six about the reshuffle after failing to consult them.
This follows his sidelining of the ANC’s national executive committee in September when he obtained a legal opinion on the discredited ANC KwaZuluNatal conference, allowing the province to appeal against a judgment deeming the election of his ally Sihle Zikalala illegal.
He has effectively detached himself from the party and its structures, looking only to stitch up his outstanding projects and secure a successor who would help cement the decade-long capture of the state.
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma’s campaign may be faltering, but she is not yet out of the race.
A key determining factor will be the stance of ANC Mpumalanga chairman David Mabuza, who has emerged as kingmaker in the succession race. Mahlobo, a former Mabuza protege, has now been placed in a critical ministry.
The relationship between Mabuza and Mahlobo, which had once been close, has soured somewhat with the latter moving closer to Zuma.
Mahlobo’s replacement in state security, advocate Bongani Bongo, was a chief director in Mabuza’s office before becoming a parliamentarian in 2014.
However, he fell out with Mabuza, which was made evident when Bongo was not re-elected to the provincial executive committee in Mpumalanga at the last party conference.
It cannot be a coincidence that Zuma’s pick for the intelligence post, one he values and relies on, could be a dig at the wily Mabuza.
While Dlamini-Zuma was widely expected to be shifted into a ministerial post, Zuma has not appointed her. Yet.
For the ANC, it once again proved to be devastating. Luthuli House complained on Tuesday about the instability of the move — three of the six reshuffled ministers had only been in their posts for the seven months since Zuma’s last executive shake-up.
The reshuffle was not well received by the markets, as it provided further evidence of political instability and uncertainty. It also does not bode well for confidence ahead of Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba’s maiden medium-term budget policy statement next week.
For the alliance, the move means “war”. Zuma has been toying with the South African Communist Party (SACP) and Cosatu for months.
He moved against the SACP and “chopped off its head”, axing Blade Nzimande from his position as higher education minister. The party came out fighting to defend its general secretary but, in truth, the alliance has not been functional for the better part of 2017.
However, this latest move will surely deepen the resolve in the SACP and Cosatu to see the back of Zuma and ensure a victory for ANC deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa.
Ultimately, what the reshuffle shows is that Zuma is a law unto himself. Governance and the ANC are simply an inconvenience — a mosquito in a Polokwane tent.