Ten Criticisms levelled against Jacob Zuma: In the wake of the Mangaung euphoria, Walter Mothapo examines ten main criticisms levelled against Jacob Zuma and examines if there is substance in them.
1. He is anti-women
In this instance mention is made of his "rape case" and polygamous marriages. The fact that he was acquitted of rape is either forgotten or ignored. Also one would have thought that if his polygamous marriage was a political problem the ANC membership would have rejected his election bid in the Polokwane conference. But even when he lobbied for Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to assume AU chairperson position critiques exclaimed "aha, now that he is afraid of her challenge come Mangaung he wants to send her to Ethiopia".
2. He is uneducated
Utterances are made that he doesn't know the gate of a school yard. One commentator even invented a new English vocabulary that Zuma is, wait a minute, a "ruralitarian"! Implying that he lacks urban sophistication to lead a big economy in Africa; as if South Africa is one big city like New York.
Zuma might not be learned in terms of formal qualifications but to say he is uneducated is to shy away from truth. It beats me as to how can a person who is able to read and write without assistance and then articulate his views and perspectives on a wide range of issues be deemed to be uneducated? A couple of Universities have also conferred honorary Doctoral degrees on him because he met a certain academic criteria to qualify for such accolades. His astute diplomatic and negotiation skills that have brought about peace in Burundi are brushed aside. I don't expect a person with low education to record such a peaceful facilitation in a sovereign country.
3. He is tribalistic
It is said that his appointments to key government positions are biased towards people from KZN. I must just cite my nearest example which is Limpopo, which has no less than three members of cabinet originating from this province. Never before had a "peripheral" province such as Limpopo produced such representation. Emphasis however must be made that cabinet should not be regarded as a "tribal council" with people from all ethnic groups represented. What happened to merit? Again it is easily forgotten that Zuma played a major role in facilitating peace in KZN that spread throughout the country during the times that were referred to as "black on black" violence. We all know by now that such violence was instigated by the "third force" led by the apartheid government.
4. He is influenced by communists
His closeness to Blade Nzimande is seen as problematic and giving the communist party an unfair advantage to influence decision making in the ANC. The history of the SACP and its role in shaping the liberation movement and the South African struggle speaks for itself. The SACP has identified the need to partner the ANC as a national liberation movement as far back as 1928 through a document entitled ‘The Black Republic Thesis". The cross-pollination between the two organisations over years has resulted in the strong and unique revolutionary Alliance. By the way we cannot take away the fact that Blade Nzimande is also a member of the NEC and NWC of the ANC in his own right and can influence decisions using those platforms.
5. He is anti-gay
His appointment of John Qwelani who is alleged to harbour anti-gay views as ambassador to Uganda is seen as a manifestation of this. Also that he once uttered anti-gay remarks in an interview with one weekly newspaper. Fair enough, but I would expect Gay and Lesbian Rights organisations to be the ones to set the tone and even take their criticism further by organising one or two marches in the direction of the president. If my memory serves me well I haven't heard of such a protest or march towards the office of the president. I suppose it is mainly because the president apologised for such remarks at one stage.
6. His government is weak on corruption
Criticism is made that he is slow to act on corruption allegations by members of the ruling party in all spheres of governance. One can bear testimony that the president had indeed started with some oomph by firing missiles in the right direction which led to casualties such as the late Shicelo Shiceka (may his soul rest in peace) and Bheki Cele. Concern however has always been whether the president moves with the agility of an eagle in dealing with corruption spots wherever they raise an ugly head. Take the province such as Limpopo which is in the news for all sorts of wrong reasons. The president instituted Section 100 (1) (b) of the Constitution but clearly this is not enough as the rot is even deeper as illustrated by the latest text book scandal.
7. He benefits his family with business links
The president is accused of having undue influence to government tenders awarded to his family members. The procurement policies of government in no way preclude family members of government leaders from doing business with government. What is important is the disclosure of such a relationship by both the official in charge of the tender process and the person tendering to avoid conflict of interest. Generally the president is in a position to influence many things in the country and even a promotion of his family member in a private company can still be reasonably linked to him. If we condone such a perception it will mean all his family and relatives should be exiled in order to do anything meaningful with their lives.
8. He directs development projects to his village
The Mail and Guardian interestingly led on this story for a while and it fancily coined it "Zuma-Ville". It is one of the Polokwane resolutions that there should be projects geared at rural development. To this extend remote villages such as Muexe and Ga-Kgatla in Limpopo and a couple of few others across the country including Nkandla have been put on presidential poverty alleviation programme. The logic that the residents of Nkandla should be the last ones to benefit in government infrastructure projects because the country's number one citizen hails from their village is a bit silly to say the least.
9. He has lost touch with the people
This is the latest in the series of allegations in the wake of the Marikana tragedy. Despite having cut his official trip to Mozambique short and having visited the injured mineworkers and met with protestors the president is accused of not being sensitive to the plight of workers. Few even go as far as saying the Commission of Enquiry would cover up wrong doing by government thereby pre-judging its outcomes.
10. He is a dictator
Reference is made here that he was instrumental in the expulsion of ANCYL president Julius Malema for his radical views. Do I hear people saying the ANC must sacrifice its constitution in the interest of an individual leader? I hope not. Leaders come and go but the organisation will remain.
Walter Mothapo is a member of the PEC of the SACP in Limpopo. These are his personal views
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