Mbeki is not like Mandela. Zuma is

News reports that President Thabo Mbeki has been meeting in Harare with Mugabe and a tiny dissident group from the MDC leaves me in no doubt that the next item on the table is going to be trying to convince Zimbabwe, the African Union and the United Nations that this is the only government of national unity possible.

This is bad news and might muddy the waters and give our northern neighbours a few more years of their genocidal president. Other than some African states, nobody is going to buy into it. This means continued decimation of Zimbabweans, South Africa overrun by more exiles and a smatter of investment in the region where an avalanche has been promised for a proper solution.

The poorer people in both countries are going to become a whole lot poorer before the situation implodes. When a dam wall cracks you don’t plaster, you rebuild or face a tidal wave.

I’m not sure how many of you have read the Sunday Times (of London) article by John Carlin which is an excerpt from his book Playing the Enemy.

It makes for fascinating reading and shows how Madiba used every trick in the book to bridge the gaps between the races during the transition to a multiracial democracy. It details how he weathered each storm in pursuit of an endgame which was to unify his countrymen.

It tells how one man tried to convince a nation that everyone had a part to play in a bright future.

South Africa under Nelson Mandela was a nation full of hope and pride.

The world would later throw a party for Madiba and everyone came bearing gifts and praise.

Fourteen years later, anger and despair reigns supreme. We have mistrust between the races, xenophobia against the rest of Africa, a divided judiciary, police and Scorpions at each others throats, worldwide condemnation about our government’s foreign policies and worst of all, ongoing friction in the ruling party which is creating unrest and uncertainty. These are just a few of the problems with everything from energy to poor delivery to the masses being symptomatic of the inherent fault in the system.

It could hardly be worse with the entire country waiting for the next election to ring in the changes.

Judging by the worldwide media, the planet will throw a party when Mbeki leaves.

Jacob Zuma, in his own way, has started out very much in the Mandela mould. Granted, he is a million miles away from the Madiba polish (who isn’t?) but he has enormous charm and has spent a lot of time reaching out to all the communities of South Africa and beyond. He is the kind of guy who wears his heart on his sleeve and who will no doubt suffer from foot-and-mouth disease.

But I have no doubt that we are going to love Zuma, because South Africans are a warm people and the aloof approach currently in operation is a source of concern and anger.

JZ’s heart will be in the right place and this will go a long way to knocking down many of the walls that have been half built since Madiba left the building.

Much of the current friction we are experiencing arises from the factional strife within the ANC. Remove that and take another look at your political problems. It is imperative that Zuma be given amnesty so that this country can start building for the future and stop looking back.

Then I’ll throw a party and you’re all invited.