Jacob's ladder - Thought Leader

Regular readers will know that I believe the president will be regarded by history as one of our finest leaders. I’ve dealt with this in a number of previous articles that you can source elsewhere on this blog.

While I disagree with many of Mbeki’s (ANC) policies and his approach to certain issues (as set out in previous posts), this must not detract from his fine performance overall.

Howeffer (for any magistrate reading this), on Monday I had lunch with supporters of Jacob Zuma who felt that my approach on the crunch leadership issue needed balance.

In the interest of fairness as well as a genuine desire to learn about Zuma, I decided to forego my round of golf — in case you’re interested, on Saturday I shot 64 … but it got dark so we didn’t have time to play the second hole.

Zuma, according to his supporters, is the man of the people.

Growing up in rural KwaZulu-Natal, he shared the people’s struggle for upliftment. Due to circumstances he was unable to achieve the education most take for granted and only matriculated with the help of his fellow prisoners on Robben Island.

He was sentenced to 10 years for conspiring to overthrow the government in 1963 after being detained along with 45 other recruits in Zeerust.

Supporters believe that Zuma, unlike for example Tokyo Sexwale, has served at all levels of the ANC. He has been part of the process leading up to the new South Africa and played a pivotal role in bringing peace to the KwaZulu-Natal hotbed.

They also believe that Zuma will materially strengthen the tripartite alliance as he enjoys strong support from Cosatu and the SACP, the ANC Youth League and the more left-leaning members of the ANC.

Where they feel he has it over Mbeki is that he acts collectively while the president is too autocratic. This is the reason why they believe that fears of Zuma becoming a tyrant are over the top.

They point out that Zuma is a team player who will implement ANC policy rather than become dictatorial. They believe that within a short period of his being appointed president, people will understand their faith in the man of the people.

With regard to the media (half of whom he has sued — but I never mentioned it on account of we hadn’t yet decided who was paying for lunch), Zuma apparently believes there are certain sections of the media who are OTT and must be dealt with but in the main freedom of the press will be maintained.

If you want to know if your group is OTT, use the following Duckworth-Lewis (it rained during lunch) method: Did you get a summons from Zuma? If yes — see our section on “Changing careers for over-45s”..

If you did not get a summons (yet), I suggest you shift your focus to covering non-political items, like cooking, at least until after December.

I also withheld questions on Zuma’s disturbing approach to Aids, fraud, gay people and the singing of certain songs that may cause consternation among South Africans unfamiliar with the history of the party.

Jokes aside, I must say it was refreshing to hear staunch members of the Zuma camp addressing issues of concern without any hint of militancy or a take-it-or-leave-it approach.

They were genuinely concerned that I understood that Zuma for president was in the interest of all South Africans and a better vehicle, in their opinion, for delivering ANC policy.

Whether you are in the Zuma camp — which I am not — or not, I believe that bodes well for democracy and our country

I’ve been wrong before …