JOHANNESBURG - A warning uttered recently by Zwelinzima Vavi, the general secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions, should ring alarm bells for President Jacob Zuma, even though Vavi, an ideologue par excellence, might have been motivated by more than comradely concern for Zuma and his relatively new administration.

In his address to the South African Municipal Workers Union, Vavi warned that the credibility of the Zuma administration with the poorer sectors of the black community is in danger of evaporating and, concomitantly, that the patience of the residents in woefully or badly served townships is approaching breaking point.

The warning was meant to nudge Zuma to the left, politically speaking, and to serve as a reminder to him that deferred promises often lead to disillusionment, anger and alienation, while, of course, increasing the vulnerability of the poor to the demagogues who seem to abound in the townships in times of recession and hardship.

Judging by the string of delivery protests that erupted within weeks of Zuma's inauguration, particularly in Mpumalanga, black people in a string of neglected or relatively neglected townships and informal settlements are not prepared to wait patiently for the Zuma administration to fulfil its election manifesto pledges.

Action, including the seizure of putatively corrupt local councillors as hostages and the burning of their offices, seems to have become a predictable township response in South Africa today, as it was during the last years of white rule.

To quote a resident of Sakile, a township near Standerton in Mpumalanga that attracted national and even international attention during its protest against poor living conditions and the alleged venality of local officials. "We don't see any changes. We thought Zuma could do better. So now we have to step up protests, thinking of the future of our children."

The task facing Zuma is not made easier by the profligacy of his administration, as manifest by the size of his cabinet (there are 34 ministers and roughly the same number of deputy ministers) and their willingness (with one or two honourable exceptions) to spend every last cent of the public money available to them on the purchase of expensive vehicles. While Zuma is inclined to speak about the need for frugality in the present difficult financial climate, his ministers are wont to spend taxpayers' money as if there were no tomorrow.

They are as greedy, if not more greedy, than the men and women who served in Mbeki's cabinet. The materialism that Mbeki rallied against seems as prevalent under Zuma as it was under Mbeki. Like France's Bourbon kings, the ANC's leader seem to have learnt nothing and forgotten nothing. It is worth noting en passant that Zuma has warned his comrades that greed could destroy the ANC if not checked. His words, like those of Mbeki before him, seem to have fallen on the proverbial deaf ears.

Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe has accused the media of making an unjustified fuss about the use of public money to purchase limousines worth up to or even more than R1million for the ministers. His argument, judging by his comments on television, is that even if the amount of money available was limited to R200 000, it would still be seen as an incredibly large amount to the poorer citizens and, his argument implies, might for that reason be as offensive to the poor as R1 million or more.

Motlanthe, however, seems to underestimate the intelligence of the poor. They are quite capable of appreciating the difference between a R200 000 vehicle and one that is five times as expensive. It is lordly arrogance to assume that they cannot differentiate between the relatively modest vehicle chosen by Pravin Gordhan and the expensive million-plus luxury cars favoured by Trevor Manuel and Blade Nzimande.

An addendum is in order. Manuel, as a respected former finance minister, should have showed the way by choosing a less expensive car. So, too, should Nzimande to establish his bona fides as a communist committed to the notion of equality.

The "fat cats" in the ANC who have forsaken their commitment to uplifting the poor in reality while paying lip service to it, should take note of the call by the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) for the "nationalisation" of the wealth of those whom its general secretary, Castro Ngobese, labels  "obscenely" rich South Africans.

Ngobese identifies Patrice Motsepe, the brother-in-law of Cyril Ramaphosa, a former ANC secretary-general, as well as of Jeff Radebe, Zuma's minister of justice, as one of the disgustingly rich men whose wealth should be seized in the name of the people. Ngobese reckons Tokyo Sexwale, the billionaire minister of human settlement, is another. Motsepe's fortune is estimated to be worth R14.2-billion according to the publication Who owns Whom.

Numsa's call to dispossess the obscenely rich of what it regards as their ill-gotten gains is a reminder of Cosatu's slogan of the 1980s: Apartheid and capitalism - two sides of the same bloody coin." Unless the ANC recovers its idealism, the slogan may be adapted to read: "ANC and capitalism - two sides of the same bloody coin." The initials ANC, however, will stand for Africa's nationalist capitalists.

There is a conundrum to consider about Zuma before signing off: it is to ponder what prompted Zuma to describe, Julius Malema, the AN/C Youth League as a potential president, bearing in mind that Malema is pressing for the nationalisation of the mines while Zuma has sung soothing lullabies to capitalists and investors at home and abroad.

One explanation may be that Zuma is trying to tame Malema, to co-opt him and use his talents for rabble rousing to strengthen the ANC and even to sell a more conciliatory line, as Malema did when he visited the University of Free State rector Jonathan Jansen and described him as "one of use" while local ANC Youth League members were calling for Jansen's head.

Another more disturbing possibility is that Zuma is simply seeking to appease Malema, who, for all his radical oratory, obviously considers himself worthy of special treatment, including the right to speed on the roads if he so wishes and to be protected by flashing blue lights whether driving on highways or byways.

Whatever Zuma's motives, he would do well to remember the warning to use a long spoon when supping with the devil.

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