Artful Zuma picking purse
REMEMBER the Artful Dodger in Charles Dickens’s Oliver
Twist? Trained by Fagin, he led a gang of street urchins skilled in pickpocketing.
Well, we have our own Artful Dodger. He’s not a street urchin but the leading citizen of the country.
Trained as a guerrilla fighter in the bush, he waged a hit-and-run battle with the apartheid forces. His mastery of guerrilla tactics serves him well as the country’s most powerful political leader.
Ever since he stepped on to the political stage, he has been ducking the law and not taking responsibility for his actions.
Question after question, case after case, he has evaded them all.
A frustrated opposition walked out of Parliament when Zuma wouldn’t disclose how much taxpayers’ money he used to avoid facing the 783 corruption charges.
He has even been dodging the taxman. According to Jacques Pauw’s book, The President’s Keepers, the president owes the Receiver of Revenue R63 million.
This is a serious offence no lawabiding, loyal citizen dare commit. But the No 1 citizen can do it with impunity. Dickens’s Artful Dodger is no match for Zuma.
The Artful Dodger is a petty thief but Zuma is a master crook par excellence. Zuma could teach him how to pick the public purse. THYGARAJ MARKANDAN
Silverglen