Kid-glove treatment won’t cleanse Nkosazana of Zuma taint

ONE gets the impression that we’re being called upon to go easy on Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, or even that we are being browbeaten to make nice to the woman who wants to be president.

There are apparently certain aspects of her life that should remain a no-go area and stay hidden from public view.

Dlamini-Zuma, of course, has had an illustrious career both in exile and in government. She also happens to be a mother and at one point was a wife or partner.

She has the experience to be president. Whether she succeeds will ultimately depend on the electorate.

A long career in politics can be a double-edged sword. Political foes have a wider and more fertile field to dig in or harvest for scandals, missteps or misdemeanours.

But it’s the personal we’re being cautioned to stay clear of.

This is uncharted territory for Dlamini-Zuma and South Africa. We’ve never had a woman run for such high office. We don’t know which rules should apply. We’re all feeling our way around. Not even modern technology is equipped to help us to navigate such a minefield.

As a society emerging from apartheid and patriarchy, we’re still struggling to find the “correct” way to deal with issues of gender equality, let alone of women running for high office.

Do they deserve special treatment? The answer should be no. Respect yes, but no special treatment. What is good for the gander should be good for the goose. The idea of democracy is that we should err on the side of openness. Voters are able to make informed decisions only when they have all the facts.

We are told Dlamini-Zuma’s personal or private affairs are none of our business. Perhaps these moral adjudicators can tell us where, as far as Dlamini-Zuma’s life is concerned, the personal ends and the political begins? Where are we supposed to draw the line? Public figures, especially elected officials, cannot claim a private space. Their private lives or activities have a bearing on their public conduct.

Dlamini-Zuma’s supporters want us to believe that her life has compartments or silos that are completely independent of each other.

It’s a self-serving argument. Her private life is a huge part of her political curriculum. Her relationship with President Jacob Zuma, her exhusband, is germane to the political discourse.

And we shouldn’t shy away from it, because it is a pointer to their judgment. For instance, somebody who cannot run their own life cannot hope to run a country.

It was revealed a few weeks ago that Dlamini-Zuma has her own rondavel at Zuma’s Nkandla homestead. The moral police immediately tried to stifle the debate. Has she gone back to Zuma? What is the nature of that relationship? We are entitled to know.

The fact that she has no qualms about using the abomination that is Nkandla is a huge problem. It leads us to wonder about her judgment. She has allowed herself to be corralled into Zuma’s spider’s web.

She’s either naive or supremely confident, to the point of arrogance, if she thinks she can win the presidency by or despite hanging on Zuma’s coat-tails. She seems oblivious to the scandals around Zuma.

In fact, Dlamini-Zuma is almost using Zuma’s template for political success. Zuma’s dismissal from office by Thabo Mbeki allowed him to campaign almost unhindered and his grievance against Mbeki, not his suitability for office, became the currency that put him across the line.

Similarly, her departure from the AU Commission has allowed DlaminiZuma ample time to conduct a whispering campaign that seems to disregard ANC restrictions. Failure to interrogate her record or conduct for fear of accusation of sexism or gender bias would most certainly allow her ascent without much scrutiny.

Dlamini-Zuma’s proximity to Zuma should be an issue. She has surrounded herself with his praise singers and benefactors, all the characters who got us into this mess. She is, for instance, being chaperoned around the country by that soberminded political genius Bathabile Dlamini. Would you buy a used car from Bathabile Dlamini?

The people who got us into the ditch don’t have the will, the ability or the inclination to get us out of it.

Zuma has done enormous damage to the prestige of this country. Apart from the many charges he faced before taking office, he has continued to loot and plunder with gay abandon, enriching himself, his family and his cronies. More seriously, he has destroyed the country’s moral fibre. He cannot be allowed to simply walk into the sunset with his loot safely stashed away. He has to atone for his sins.

Anybody who wants to lead this nation should therefore be committed to hauling Zuma before the courts. That should be the litmus test, the bottom line. Finally seeing Zuma on trial for the enormous damage he’s done is the only way South Africa will begin to cleanse itself.

Dlamini-Zuma cannot honestly fulfil such an obligation.