ANC complicit to our ills

AFTER a cursory glance at the possible replacements for President Jacob Zuma, I come to the conclusion that none of them’s the inspirational leader our country is crying out for.

Thus far no one has deviated from the script whereby state capture and corruption is routinely condemned. One could be forgiven for mistaking these fine candidates as opposition party Members of Parliament (MP), sniping at a weakened president.

Allow me to remind them they are members of the ANC, complicit, in my humble opinion, in most of the ills that we are paying for.

Your sudden concern for the poor, the sudden and apparent bravery of your contempt for Zuma, is alarmingly suspicious, to say the least.

When this man was forced upon South Africa, those of us who don’t follow the ruling party with slavish devotion cautioned against it, and you did not listen.

When he was up for re-election, the branches went ahead, and little consideration was given to the poor or the fact the president was a man with a clear moral deficiency. When Nkandla was built, the homeless weren’t even an afterthought. When the economy shed billions and tens of thousands workers lost their livelihoods, the trade unions and communists, the so-called vanguard of the workers, blindly followed the man from Nkandla in return for the odd seat in the cabinet.

We know that in order for the country to succeed, Zuma has to go. We don’t need an opportunistic politician to tell us that. What we need is a clear plan, preferably an economic one coupled with good ethical leadership, something as alien to the modern-day ANC as it was to the Nationalists of the 1980s, a comparison I never thought I would be unfortunate enough to make.

We have gone from Mandela to Zuma in a few badly chosen steps, in the process Zuma has made Mbeki look like a sage. Our next president should forever be grateful to Zuma, for he has set the bar so incredibly low that being competent will guarantee his successor hero status.

I will not hold my breathe. Sadly, with this government, even our lowest ebb seems to have space for another trough.

BRIGADIER GENERAL FADIEL ADAMS SACC media liaison officer, Athlone