Zuma is a leader who is failing to provide leadership on any front.
President Jacob Zuma lacks initiative and dynamism as a leader. His themes in all his lectures are similar to his speech at the ANC policy conference (“Not the policy president”, June 29). He relies on singing to provide strategic leadership.
What are the key challenges facing the ANC, the alliance and the nation? The first is the failure to implement a transformative agenda as outlined in the Freedom Charter. The current example is the crisis in education. There is no political and administrative leadership to implement policies. This has been ignored by the president, so he is bombarding us with “second transition” semantics.
We have a high rate of corruption, yet only two lines of his speech were about this cancer. Instead, he focused on ill-discipline in the youth and veterans’ leagues.
When Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe realised he was losing power, he came up with his unscientific land-reform programme. Is Zuma’s “second transition” not hollow, like Mugabe’s land reform? Yes, “willing buyer, willing seller” is a serious challenge when it comes to land restitution, but did Zuma offer a solution? No.
Zuma is a leader who is failing to provide leadership on any front. – Langelihle Hlubi, Bhizana
The ANC policy conference was a great success for Jacob Zuma, his family and the ANC elite. Cosatu has not gained hegemony in the ANC because it does not speak with a united voice. Its only victory is the youth wage subsidy.
The conference came out with no policies regarding the ANC elite enriching itself, on the prioritisation of Nkandla for development, or the monthly state grants of about R36000 to the president’s four wives. Mine workers at Aurora have been exploited worse than those exploited by labour brokers, but they did not get any sympathy from delegates.
There should have been a resolution to say that 30% of the mines, in future, should not go to companies associated with the ANC national executive committee, the Cabinet or public representatives of any party. Aurora’s workers were exploited by relatives of Zuma and Nelson Mandela. It is taboo to criticise these families, no matter how unethical the behaviour of Khulubuse Zuma and Zondwa Mandela.
The ANC elite and the Zuma family cannot behave like crocodiles who must first feed and only once full allow the rest to eat what remains. Such behaviour confirms the description of the ANC as “African National Crocodiles”. – Zinhle Mgwabagwaba, Graaff-Reinet