JAUNDICED EYE
Jacob Gedleyishlekisa Machiavelli sets the table for the Last Supper
It’s a mistake to deduce from Jacob Zuma surviving the past tumultuous dozen years without going to jail or being ousted, that he is some kind of Machiavellian genius. He is not. There is no subtle intelligence at work here.
Zuma is simply a shameless, unscrupulous opportunist. That the president has been able to get away with this for so long can be laid at the door of a craven, cowed African National Congress that has stood, wringing its hands helplessly, while its principles were betrayed.
The ease with which a leader can surround himself or herself with indentured sycophants, all ready to bend the knee, is not novel. Nor is the ability to intimidate rivals with spurious allegations of sedition distilled from home-brewed “intelligence” reports.
It does not take strategic brilliance to exploit ethnic and racial tensions. It does not take tactical wizardry to use inflated ANC membership figures to control branches and congresses and, ultimately, to secure the presidential secession.