Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma, South Africa’s embattled and disgraced president must stand down for the good of the country, and what remains of Madiba’s legacy that he has tarnished and dishonored beyond recognition.
Currently there are 783 criminal charges pending against Zuma — more than any president anywhere in the world has ever faced, at any given time.
Zuma has survived 6 votes of no confidence in parliament, and there is another one looming over his head this week if he does not find Jesus and resign. And I doubt he has enough political sense or otherwise to notice the writing on the wall.
Since he has been in power he has battled nine scandals, all to do with corruption, mis-use of public funds to enrich himself, not to mention the “state capture” that is slowly but surely destroying public institutions.
In the run-up to the 2009 election, Zuma was simultaneously battling allegations of rape and corruption. He was acquitted of raping an HIV-positive family friend in 2006 — but not before telling the court that he had showered in order to avoid catching HIV — a statement that continues to haunt him throughout his presidency.
But like the legendary cat Zuma has nine lives and has survived a series of scandals which would have surely ended anyone else’s career. True to his middle name (Gedleyihlekisa), which in Zulu means “I laugh at you as I destroy you” the man has defied his critics and enemies and survived all the votes of no confidence tabled by opposition parties.
Julius Malema can tell the story better than I can.
This comical and tragic figure of a man should never have been president to begin with, for sure not succeeding Nelson Mandela, the giant that founded the RAINBOW NATION and saved South Africa from a sure bloodbath.
Convicted of conspiring to overthrow the apartheid regime and imprisoned for 10 years on the notorious Robben Island alongside Nelson Mandela, it is said Zuma helped keep up morale among the incarcerated ANC grandees with songs and impromptu theatre. It is this comical nature that endeared him to ordinary South Africans before his elevation to the presidency.
Not many people are laughing now as Zuma unleashes a full assault on public institutions, with particular focus on the Public Protector who has been a constant thorn in the president’s rib cage.
The clock is ticking, and Jacob Zuma’s presidency is nearing the end. He should save face and step down. But better still he should save the presidency and reputation of this great nation, saving South Africans the embarrassment of a messy un-presidential exit.
