The moment of truth is here

ALL eyes will be on Jacob Zuma today when he stands up at Nasrec to address delegates to the ANC’s 54th national elective conference and deliver his political report.

It will be his last conference as party president. By Wednesday, the liberation movement will have a new leadership. Zuma will continue to be president of the country, officially until 2019, or perhaps he will not.

Never before has a president of the party ruled over such a divided and rancorous organisation. Never before has a president been so under attack by other organs of state – in his personal capacity. Normally these are two separate issues, but because of a rare confluence of time and events, they are inextricably linked – right now.

It is a fait accompli that Zuma’s time as president of the party is up and he will step down today.

The risk he faces is what happens to him when he no longer enjoys the political power to protect himself from his enemies – and he has made many – all looking to capitalise on his ongoing battles with the judiciary.

This week the Judge President of the Gauteng High Court not only ruled against Zuma, but made the unprecedented – though wholly understandable – ruling that the president be held personally accountable for the legal costs of the unsuccessful action.

The entire house of cards, from his homestead at Nkandla to state capture, is about to fall down about his ears – and there’s still the 783 counts of corruption from the Schabir Shaik case lying in a bottom drawer in the National Director of Public Prosecution’s desk, and a new NDPP to appoint which Zuma may have no involvement in.

This weekend, delegates face their greatest issue. How they decide will determine not just whether the ANC can contest the 2019 elections and win, but even if it will still exist by then. We wish them well with their endeavours.