Some things change, others stay the same

The spy tapes were recordings made in the run-up to the ANC’s 2007 elective conference. Back then, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was on Thabo Mbeki’s slate — a big change from today. Yet 10 years on, other things remain much the same. Here are some excerpts from the tapes:

I mean, take the bloody women’s league. There is a decision that there must be 50/50, right? So in the top six there must be three women and three men. OK … the NEC [national executive committee] has taken that decision. [Jacob] Zuma’s slate, they only have two women in the top six, you understand, only two.

Hmmm.

The women go and vote against women, they have just voted now … Zuma got 29, Mbeki got 25, Kgalema [Motlanthe] got 26, Nkosazana got 24. The women’s league voted against the women as deputy president. Can you believe that?

Sjoe.

On a Dlamini-Zuma interview:

Can you tell me something? How was Nkosazana this morning?

Shocking. No.

Jissus, shocking. That’s why I sent SMS — she could not say what the fuck she stands for. She was tentative, vulnerable, insecure, took long. You know with the media, you are famous for 15 minutes. When the guy asks the question, you must be very, very sure about what you want to say. You must be assertive, you must be confident, you must sound intelligent. You must sound like someone who wants to be a president, for God’s sake. And I did not see that.