Zuma did not act alone

IT’S such an easy cop-out. Blame Jacob Zuma for all our woes, from poor education outcomes to looting of state enterprises, to pathetic accountable practices, to the widening gap between the rich and the poor – who knows, even the rise in the petrol price.

But let the truth be told. The ANC has a million card-carrying members who are an integral part of the decision-making processes; 62% of the electorate, representing millions of voters, voted for it in the last general elections in 2014; and Parliament is dominated by its members.

This is indeed a huge collective, and to blame the fall in support and credibility on one man is a naive over-simplification. Jacob Zuma never really acted alone. He had his co-conspirators – in the NEC, in the NWC, in the cabinet, in the premier league provinces, in Parliament, and even at local government level. And all of them had but a singular agenda: to strip the fiscus of as much as it could, enrich themselves, and to hell with the suffering masses.

Through an act of omission, failing to act morally and ethically, the ANC has thrown our country to the wolves, and the honourable Struggle for our liberation has been sold for 30 pieces of silver.

And now, irony upon irony, the fallout of the betrayal of the ideals of our democratic social order is resulting in possible load shedding and impacting on our enjoyment of a four-yearly festival of the world, the Soccer World Cup.

The voters must be muttering under their breath, saying we can live with the discomfort of state capture and looting, but to touch us on our studio for the Fifa World Cup is unforgivable.

This for us must be the last straw.