FEBRUARY

As the country gets ready for Jacob Zuma to step down from the ANC hot seat we look back at his time as SA’s president

BBY KHATIJA NXEDLANA & GABISILE NGCOBO Y THE time you read this, President Jacob Zuma will have mere days left as head of the ruling party. Under his watch much has happened – people have been hired and fired, the rand has plummeted, the economy has suffered and the state has been captured. All of which has led many to rejoice at the fact that, come 2019, he’ll become “an ordinary voter”, as he puts it, at his local Nkandla branch of the ANC. Yet there’s more than a year to go until the general elections – and the milliondollar question now is, will Zuma still wield power and influence after the elective conference closes on 20 December? We went looking for answers to this and other questions as Zuma’s last year at the head of the party draws to a close. senior research associate at the Institute for Global Dialogue and politics lecturer at the University of Cape Town.

He could also exert influence as an elder and an outgoing president.

But can president of the party be separated from president of the state? Naidu says we’ll have to wait and see. “At this point in time, everything is a grey area.”

But political analyst Daniel Silke believes Zuma’s days are numbered and doubts he’ll make it to the 2019 general election as head of state.

“Whoever wins at the elective conference will want to resolve the issues that surround Zuma and cement themselves as the president and leader of the country,” he says.

Analysts also believe the ANC might have a better chance in 2019 if they get rid of Zuma now.