Jacob Zuma is a guest of honour at the inauguration of Burundi’s new President, Pierre Nkurunziza — the man he played a key role in transforming from rebel leader.
In an interview before leaving for Bujumbura, Zuma urged Burundians to work at developing their shattered economy as hard as they did for peace.
”They have indicated that they will still talk to me and that I could continue in some or other aspects, helping where I could. These include trying to woo investors and helping the government function.”
Zuma had agreed to the interview on condition that the current political storm in the ruling African National Congress alliance is not mentioned. Burundi’s successful transition — a matter he regards as one of his political triumphs — allows him a rare opportunity of late, to speak like a South African statesman.
”The fact that we were the first to put troops in Burundi to back up the Arusha power-sharing agreement, when other countries were not yet prepared to do so, put us in very good stead. When things got tough, I told the participants that they were not dealing with a mediator who needs a job .
”Walking in the footsteps of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere and Madiba, who were both mediators in the Burundi peace process before me, is a very humbling and rewarding experience.”
Zuma speaks warmly of Nkurunziza, who once accused him of being biased in favour of the Tutsi interim president Domitien Ndayizeye.
”I spent many hours with him, talking about the struggles in South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, persuading him that there is a time when the fighting has to stop and the political process must begin. The danger of a military victory is that the defeated parties can feel so bitter that they may reorganise and attack. Nkurunziza realises this.
”Not many people know that the main reason for his refusal to join the Arusha process was that it was ethnically based. He believes that ethnicity lies at the root of Burundi’s problem.” The 40-year-old leader lost his own father in a wave of ethnic violence.
Zuma is also conciliatory about the National Liberation Front (FNL) of Agathon Rwasa, whom he branded only months ago as a terrorist.
The FNL continues to fight within earshot of Bujumbura.
The Burundi mediator’s optimism is nonetheless shared by most analysts who think stability in that country could be a catalyst to stabilising the entire Great Lakes region — an area that has been a point of bitter conflict.