Full of self-pity and feigned innocence, Zuma hurt, dishonoured and betrayed us

why a president stepping down would have whined about “perks and benefits” with the world watching.

But everyone who lived through the Zuma years has become accustomed to him defiling everything, even at such a critical moment in history.

In the interview Zuma did with the SABC earlier on Wednesday, he was detached from reality, trying to make a case that he was being victimised, and still convinced that he was a statesman that South Africa and the world needed.

He seemed to genuinely believe that he had a valid argument for hanging around for another six months to introduce Ramaphosa to Brics and AU leaders as if the new president was a toddler starting preprimary school.

“Why must I be persuaded to resign? Have I done anything wrong?” he asked.

“The officials couldn’t provide what I had done, but it was basically put that there’s a good mood in the country and it must be maintained . . . Once that motivation is made, it becomes more important to hear have I done something wrong, because that suggests if I’m not there, the situation might perhaps be different.”

Well, yes. If he were not there, South Africa would not be in the midst of a blockbuster action thriller, featuring portly villains on the run and the former president’s son trying to evade justice.

It would seem that the ANC officials opted for euphemism rather than tell Zuma straight out that he had been rubbish at his job, betrayed their mandate and turned the state rotten.

It is the fact that the ANC had not spelt out to Zuma and the nation in graphic detail why he needed to be booted out of the Presidency that he can forever dwell in the world of make-believe and campaign for redemption.

The ANC should know by now that Zuma is incapable of distinguishing right from wrong.

The moment ANC members should have realised how impervious Zuma was to morality was when he pushed the country over the edge the day after Ahmed Kathrada’s funeral.

Kathrada’s letter pleading with Zuma to resign was read at the funeral by former president Kgalema Motlanthe. In it, Kathrada expressed his distress around the firing of Nhlanhla Nene as finance minister.

“My concern was amplified when it emerged that the deputy finance minister reported that he was offered the finance minister post by members of the Gupta family. The resultant crisis the country was plunged into indicated that the removal of the minister was not about the interests of the people,” said Kathrada’s letter.

Zuma responded the next day by firing another finance minister and, with utter malice, the deputy finance minister Kathrada spoke of.

He essentially spat on the grave of a struggle legend.

Now that the wheels of justice have finally begun to turn, Zuma and the Guptas will have to face the consequences of their actions, even though they believe the law does not apply to them.

It is perhaps poignant that after all the billions they had stolen from our country, the first case to be brought to court was the Estina dairy project, in which poor farmers in Vrede were deceived and robbed.

It is them that Zuma should look in the eye and ask what he has done wrong.

From Fezekile Kuzwayo — the woman widely known as Khwezi — to Ahmed Kathrada and a nation he pledged to protect and serve “true to the dictates of my conscience”, Zuma hurt, dishonoured and betrayed us.

For that, Zuma faces a ghastly future that we can only hope will finally bring on full cognisance.