Zuma our president evil

On a political level, President Jacob Zuma’s resistance to calls for him to resign are understandable and, to an extent, rational.

He needs to cling to power for as long as possible while he negotiates the best possible exit deal for himself.

His former acolytes (including his son Duduzane) will, of course, be left to fend for themselves, but that’s politics for you.

On a personal level, however, the picture is different. It is a very special breed of human being who can be openly despised by a large number of his countrymen yet still show his face in public and embarrass himself in the way he is doing now.

Ironically, the true nature and extent of the evil that Zuma represents were not revealed by the nature and extent of crimes committed under state capture, as evil as they were.

The evil of corruption under state capture is truly astounding, but it is possible to understand. Corruption on this scale is driven by a state of personal greed the likes of which we have seen before in, for example, Zimbabwe and Angola, so it is horrifying but it is not new to us and not entirely unexpected.

Instead, the true evil of the man is being revealed now, after the state capture fact, by his reaction to calls for him to be called to account. We are seeing the worst of Zuma.

The evil of corruption pales into insignificance when compared with the evil of a man who, having been caught red-handed and called to account, would destroy the lives of his own family and his own political party, and further wreck the economy of his country and the lives of millions upon millions of his countrymen and (if reports are to be believed) take his country to the brink of civil war, all to save his own skin.

This is an evil that is truly difficult to fathom. It speaks to a void of humanity, empathy and compassion that is truly, truly staggering, matched only by the evils of apartheid itself.

James Drew Via e-mail