The holy book has got an account of a certain Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ, who driven by greed betrayed his divine master and sold him to the Roman authorities. It was an act of betrayal of the brotherhood of men, which is premised on mutual trust and respect. For sustenance of everything else incidental to life we are to observe and espouse such basic principles and values. Politics for time immemorial have been characterised by backstabbing, dishonesty and ruthlessness on the part of those aspirant to power. William Shakespeare aptly portrayed in Macbeth how ambition for power can drive men to break all moral boundaries and our politics are not destitute of instances of such betrayals.
Macbeth as we know him was a loyal man; loyal to his king. Despite his loyalty, there was evidence that Macbeth thought of becoming king before his mind was corrupted by the three witches. We have our own Macbeth and Judas Iscariot rolled into one. The ascendancy of Jacob Zuma to power reads as though it had been borrowed from the Gospel of Judas or Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
In 2001, there were reports of various rumours and plots against Thabo Mbeki. The then minister of safety and security, Steve Tshwete, shocked the nation with revelations of an “assassination plot” against the president by some within his own members of the national executive committee of the ANC. Three prominent members of the ANC were revealed as orchestrating this sinister and treasonous plot against the president of the republic. A close and trusted lieutenant of the president at the time, his own deputy, issued an unsolicited statement in which he made it clear that he had no plans to challenge Mbeki for the ANC leadership and, in effect, the presidency. Zuma’s declaration of loyalty to the president suggested that some elements were trying to isolate the president and “create the impression that some of his most trusted comrades are plotting against him”.
The sequence of events from 2001 leading up to the 2007 Polokwane leadership conference would suggest that Zuma had learnt to keep his enemy even closer to him. Like Judas he had earned the trust of his master and won his confidence when the Macbeth in him harboured aspirations of ascending to the presidency of the country. The power of prophecy by the three witches on Macbeth had been overwhelming and driven him to self-destruction. Similarly we have observed how the alleged three coup conspirators within the ANC had rallied behind our own Macbeth. These are men who wield immense power and influence in business and in politics. They remained steadfast behind Zuma’s challenge to topple their chief nemesis, throwing ethical considerations to the wind as they advanced an alleged crook to power.
Zuma ascended to power within the ANC gyrating to the drum-beats of bitter rivals of the former president; in full confidence that his ambition would soon be realised. The misinformation campaign, the propagation of falsehoods and playing our Judas as the victim of some nefarious conspiracy was central to the strategy and tactics of deceiving supporters and capturing their imagination and sympathies. The propulsion of Zuma to power by questionable characters raises more suspicion of their real intentions; whether the ever-smiling Zuma is a pawn in the greater scheme of things. As Malcolm X said: “A man who tosses worms in the river isn’t necessarily a friend of the fish. All the fish who take him for a friend, who think the worm’s got no hook in it, usually end up in the frying pan.”
It is no secret that one of the three alleged coup conspirators, Matthews Phosa, harbours ambitions of becoming president. In December 1997 he had attempted to run against Zuma for the deputy presidency of the ANC in order to secure himself the succession to the powerful position of the movement with eyes firmly fixed on the top prize — the presidency of the country. It cannot be said that these men support Zuma in the belief that he is in full possession of all qualities requisite of a person occupying the position of president of the country.
The forced deployment of Kgalema Motlanthe to government and his ultimate installation as president of the country appear to be part of the bigger scheme by certain aspirant individuals within the ANC to fast track their ascendancy to power. Having served only about six months as president, Motlanthe would effectively have dropped from the race and created an opportunity for the reshuffling of positions towards the 2014 elections. It is those like Phosa who have long seen themselves leading the country who remain in pole position to take the chequered flag. One may be tempted to condone the deceptions and betrayals as part of the games of politics but one would then be deliberately offending the principles and values espoused by society in general.
It came as no surprise that Zuma, being an alleged crook himself, would surround himself with men of questionable character. The revelation of the ANC spin doctor Carl Niehaus as a crook speaks to the moral impairment of the organisation that he represented and those that appointed him to such prominent position, including those that shielded him from prosecution for his criminal indiscretions. In order to continue deceiving the general public, the ANC preferred to appoint a seasoned con-artist to spearhead its misinformation campaign.
The ANC has infected all spheres of government with the cancer of corruption, from the National Assembly to the remote municipalities. The fight against crime and corruption cannot be won when those we had entrusted with the task of safeguarding the reputation and welfare of the country have become guardians of all ills that plague society. We have remained at the mercy of men who lack the conscience to prevent them from betraying public trust in their pursuit of self-interest. They embody everything else that is abhorrent to the conscience of society. Being skilful in the art of trickery they succeed each time in getting unsuspecting members of the public to continuously fall prey to their political mechanisations.
Our Judas also triumphed in betraying the allegiance to his master; presenting trade union and communist enemies an opportunity to thrust political daggers in his master’s back. Like a wolf, our Judas continued to show his teeth to his master disguising his snarl and pretending to smile, leading him to his ultimate fate. These “smiling” wolves are harmful to the welfare of society and standing of government and the voting public needs to be conscious of them and make the right choices. We deserve for ourselves leaders of robust constitution, of unquestionable integrity, fortitude of character and good judgement.
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