Generation next: President Jacob Zuma is appealing a high court ruling ordering him to explain why he fired the finance minister and his deputy
It would be most ironic, and yet entirely fitting, if Jacob Zuma were to be ousted from the presidency of the ANC and South Africa by a “coalition of the wounded” – exactly like those he is said to have represented when he challenged his predecessor, Thabo Mbeki, for the leadership, and won. And, ironically, too, some of those “wounded” will be people who supported Zuma on his way up but were swiftly jettisoned by him and his supporters when they proved to be a nuisance. Julius Malema and Zwelinzima Vavi spring to mind. They’ve been joined by a chorus of influential leaders scattered across the country. Critically, many of these carry with them a significant constituency.
Now the ANC’s official allies, the South African Communist Party and trade union federation Cosatu, have turned against him too. They have had enough of his rampantly predatory presidency. They now see through his manoeuvres, such as the firing of Pravin Gordhan as finance minister, to the self-interest behind it. Cosatu has already indicated that Zuma, who was booed at a May Day rally, is no longer welcome to address it.
In Nquthu in KwaZulu-Natal, in the heartland of “Zuma’s country”, the ANC has just lost an important set of by-elections, largely to its old foe, the Inkatha Freedom Party – which the ANC considered all but dead. Perhaps this is a result of dissatisfaction with ANC policy, as well as tribalist sentiments; if so, Zuma is to blame on the policy and delivery front as well as for having used tribalism to glamourise himself while playing to the traditionalist rural voter.
Provincial leaders in the Northern and Eastern Capes, like those of KwaZulu-Natal, are divided; some still support Zuma, but others can see clearly that it’s time to move on – for the sake of the ANC as well as South Africa. The anti-Zuma side may be winning, too, albeit gradually. This weekend we will see how the ANC’s national executive committee, its highest decision-making body, feels about Zuma staying on. Already many ANC office bearers have expressed their feeling that he should go, and perhaps the leadership has finally decided to act on its principles. We can only hope so.