It’s time for Zuma to become part of history
We dare not remain silent as Zuma’s presidency hurtles into the worst places the signs of the times have indicated, argues Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela
THE only thing that allows evil to triumph is for good men and women to allow fear to drive them to silence, to paraphrase a famous quote.
I have thought of these words often in the past few years of President Jacob Zuma’s term in office. The words reverberate through my mind even now, as we face the aftermath of decisions made clearly not for the greater good of our country; decisions made recklessly, seemingly for the protection of selfinterest and the interests of a few government and business elites.
At a time when we need leaders with moral clarity, one wonders what the future holds when our president’s strength of destructive powers is not matched by the strength of moral stature.
I am reminded of the title of political analyst Justice Malala’s book: We have Now Begun Our Descent.
No question about it, but the onset of the descent came much earlier than the publication of the book.
From the very beginning, Zuma’s presidency was destined to corrupt the soul of our country.
The disturbing images and dramas that played out on the sidelines of his court trials were burnt into our collective consciousness.
At the time, there were many voices of outrage about the prospect of a president with dubious integrity, riddled with corruption charges, and shamed in public: for failure to control himself from having intercourse with his comrade’s daughter who called him uncle, for failure to publicly condemn the slandering and stoning of his former comrade’s daughter who had accused him of rape, and for many other moral failures that have since come to light.
This total lack of integrity laid the foundation for this historic mess we are facing.
The signs were “hidden” in plain sight, yet none spoke out in the ANC and its alliance partners, not even our most trusted leaders of stature.
An excerpt from an opinion piece I wrote in May 2006 comes to mind:
“One wonders why ANC leaders of integrity, honesty, character and regard for the respect and dignity of others, have been silent — leaders like Nelson Mandela, Ahmed Kathrada and Ben Turok, among many others.
“Where are their voices of reason in this crisis? Where are these leaders who pointed out for us the road to humaneness?”
None of what Zuma did then was about protecting the interests of South Africans.
Most importantly, the president’s recent actions show little concern for the poverty, inequality and unemployment that hang over the lives of millions of South Africans, and now with the latest events threatening to plunge them into the abyss of despair.
We have been fed the narrative that “white monopoly capital” is to blame for these “triple challenges”.
Of course, the privileges that white people enjoyed under apartheid have yielded intergenerational economic advantage for many white South Africans, ensuring that the economy and knowledge production is in white hands.
But we should not allow this narrative to put a veil over the problem of black capitalists who control millions of rand in government, and the Guptaesque manoeuvres heartbreakingly described in the former public protector’s state capture report.
We now know that black political elites, and their cronies and families, have used state resources as a private source of monopoly capital.
One wonders what “radical economic transformation” means when such a project is led by a president who seems determined repeatedly to inflict injury on the economy of the country, which is tantamount to the same violence that irreparably arrested the dreams and futures of South Africans who were oppressed under apartheid, and their descendants.
It is ironic that the strategies employed for apartheid’s survival seem to have served as a prototype for how today’s government tries to ensure its continuing power.
A culture of corruption, greed and power of position, a personality cult around Zuma and fear have all chipped away at the moral foundation that was established in the early years of our democracy.
A considerable amount of time and state resources are spent more on protecting the president and non-performing ministers and extravagant and financially reckless directors of parastatal agencies than pursuing a meaningful vision of economic transformation.
The erosion of ethical principles among some in government has been relentless.
The tragic social and cultural repercussions of this erosion are now in plain sight.
Once again, with the news of the economic downgrade, the cast of actors in the shameful saga that brought us to this moment shows little sign of a desire to allay our fears, to reassure the nation in any meaningful way.
Another voice reverberates in my mind, heart and soul.
It is the resolute and thunderous voice of Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, heard throughout the length and breadth of the country exactly a year ago on the day we woke up to the news of the president’s cabinet reshuffle.
A crucial element of our constitutional vision “is to make a decisive break from the unchecked abuse of state power and resources that was virtually institutionalised during the apartheid era”, Mogoeng’s voice boomed as I drove home from work that evening.
“To achieve this goal‚” he continued, “we adopted accountability‚ the rule of law and the supremacy of the constitution as values of our constitutional democracy.”
It was the following words of his which moved me to tears: “The president is the head of state and heads the national executive. His is indeed the highest calling to the highest office in the land.
“Unsurprisingly‚ therefore, the nation pins its hopes on him to steer the country in the right direction and accelerate our journey towards a peaceful‚ just and prosperous destination‚ which all other progress-driven nations strive towards daily.
“He is a constitutional being by design‚ a national pathfinder‚ the quintessential commander-in-chief of state affairs and the personification of this nation’s constitutional project.”
There were many poignant moments in the chief justice’s delivery of the Nkandla judgment.
At one point, he described parliament as “the voice of all South Africans‚ especially the poor‚ the voiceless and the least remembered”.
He called parliament the “watchdog of state resources‚ the enforcer of fiscal discipline and cost-effectiveness for the common good of all our people”.
It was an anchoring moment for the country, that seemed to embody something higher, something essential for us to hold onto in hope that those in positions of power might adopt it as a blueprint.
Words may move us, and the many meetings in Luthuli House and calls for Zuma to resign may give us hope.
Ultimately, our greatest hope is that this time, all these committees in parliament and in Luthuli House will heed Mogoeng’s call, and Zuma’s name will soon be part of our history, and no longer our reality.
Gobodo-Madikizela is professor and research chair for historical trauma and transformation at Stellenbosch University
The erosion of ethical principles among some in government has been relentless A culture of corruption, greed and fear has chipped away at moral foundations
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