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LET US GUARD AGAINST UNWELCOME GESTURES

28/04/2016 10:27:00 By Burns Dlamini

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I was strangely elated seeing the sitting president of our neighbouring State, South Africa grace our King’s Birthday celebrations.

The beleaguered and embattled president deserves our prayers and compassion amidst the attacks, more so because of our relationship with him from way back. I mean, it was touching listening to him talk passionately about how this nation supported the ruling party during the apartheid era, something that I believe a number of South Africans bred and raised here would choose to forget. Actually, he is the only one who went into such lengths emphasising this past, lavishing this country with accolades for helping out in the struggle, providing safety and education to the elite of the party. Of the three presidents of the new South Africa, he is one of the most travelled to this country.

Listening to Zuma dig into the history of these two nations, particularly through the ruling party, the ANC, one can already appreciate the rich past we share. A past characterised by benevolence of our departed monarchs, that is no doubt being continued by our present monarch as he continues to provide a shoulder for Zuma to cry on at this time of his estrangement by his countrymen including some ANC stalwarts in the wake of calls for him to step down from the leadership of that country. As I write today the president is seized with the responsibility of going to Polokwane to make his keynote address to the nation to commemorate Freedom Day, an event that I think he dreads to attend given the adversarial and hostile reception that tends to greet him in such events. It’s sad for the man whose detractors of our time were his die-hard supporters, like Malema, who would at one stage vow to die for him.

As it seems, not too many are willing to support him now, let alone die for him amid the calls for him to step down. The man’s credibility is in tatters, ranging from Constitutional Court pronouncements to the effect that he violated the Constitution with regard to the Nkandla saga, which in itself dealt a serious blow to his standing as president. Then, it was his perceived connections with the Guptas, all of which worsened an already bad situation.
The opposition parties have, as can be expected; exploited this state of affairs; and rightly so. On Freedom Day, while he addresses the gathering in Polokwane, demonstrations calling for his stepping down are taking place in other parts of the country. How sad.

Given what has evolved, the president deserves our compassion, but not our protection. Like most of his supporters in South Africa, ANC stalwarts including ex-Minister Trevor Manuel are calling upon him to do the honourable thing and resign. While the ruling party in SA is aware of these infractions on the part of its comrade, it is not willing to risk creating further splinter parties by recalling him as Gwede Mantashe would have it.

From the perspective of the ruling partly, it seems in order to follow this thinking in the short-term, however, taking a long-term view of this, it has the danger of risking the party’s credibility, in that it goes to give the impression that the party is bigger than the country. Again, a president is being created that threatens the rule of law in the country if not corrected. The decision not to heed calls for recall is by far disingenuous and downright reckless if you asked me. I mean, it’s better to sacrifice one man than a whole party.

That he has apologised is neither here nor there - apologies do not repay money nor do they cleanse anyone of criminality. And on this basis, much of what we are doing as their neighbours, pleading a case for Zuma, may be perceived as unwelcome neighbourliness by those who feel aggrieved by the president (within the ANC and other parties) being enriched by the Nkandla upgrades - and E246m to build a man’s house, without proper authorisation from the fiscus is no small feat. And, so is having a company or a dynasty; exert undue influence on government affairs because of its relationship with a sitting president.