Zuma presidency 'not all bad'

[Necuno]

been hearing the same thing from 702, when they had that anc activist writer, but not all bad

Michael Hamlyn

Cape Town - Tony Leon, the former leader of he Democratic Alliance, reckons that life under Jacob Zuma as president need not be all bad.

He told the Cape Town Press Club on Thursday that at least when he becomes president, he will start off under scrutiny.

When Nelson Mandela became president, Leon said, he was a secular saint, and that was a good and a bad thing.

"When Thabo Mbeki became president we assumed - I never did, but you all did," Leon said - "that he was Mr Delivery and Mr Intellectual. Well, he failed instantly on both counts."

Now no one has any expectations of Zuma at all, said Leon, who was in Cape Town to launch his autobiography.

"They kind of think: 'Well this guy is pretty compromised.' And in one sense, he will start off under scrutiny.

"People will be keeping the lights on and hopefully the microphones and the microscopes pointing in the right direction.

"He won't be given a free pass. And that can be a helpful thing."

Emotional intelligence

The good thing about Jacob Zuma, as opposed to the current president, Leon continued, is that he is extremely comfortable in his own skin, which is an advantage.

"He uses a lot of emotional intelligence. Which is often better than intellect, because it means he is more plugged in to the concerns of people, often in a very positive way.

"He's the guy who said that crime is a threat to the constitutional order of South Africa, and indeed it is.

"As a general proposition, he is absolutely correct.

"When we did battle with the current president, crime was either contested, didn't exist, was a figment of the white imagination, or indeed the statistics were demonstrably going in the other direction.

Independent judiciary

"No actual recognition that there was a crisis here that had to be wished away or explained away or didn't exist. So in that sense he's better.

However, Leon warned that the worst thing about a Zuma presidency derived from what was happening with the judiciary now.

He said the crucial non-negotiable factor in a peaceful and democratic South Africa is an independent judiciary. "That is what is required by citizens," he said.

He explained that when Mandela was dragged into court by Louis Luyt and lost, he stood up for the judiciary.

Thabo Mbeki for reasons of self-interest over the 14th Amendment Bill also stood up for the judiciary.

"Jacob Zuma can't stand up for the judiciary," Leon said, "because the judiciary needs to be squared away for him to get into power.

"The covering fire from the top is not there.

"And that is the greatest threat of the Zuma advance."

...

 

[.Froot.]

I'm just scared he takes away condoms and makes showering compulsory.

 

[Other Pineapple Smurf]

Jacob is a cool dude ... he can only be better than Mbeki and I've got his song on my cell.

You should check the response on public when "Umshima Wam" goes off on a white mans mobile ...

 

[oronte]

I'm just scared he takes away condoms and makes showering compulsory.

Don't you like showering? Perhaps as a concession those who take bubble baths will only be half as likely to get AIDS?

 

[TheHiveMind]

He could be worse than Mbeki if he wants to be.
Remains to be seen.

 

[oronte]

Jacob is a cool dude ... he can only be better than Mbeki and I've got his song on my cell.

You should check the response on public when "Umshima Wam" goes off on a white mans mobile ...

Really? Better? What are the issues that Mbeki's failed on (let's also recognise that he's also gotten a lot of things right)?
Zimbabwe - Zuma's said he doesn't care and won't do anything.
Aids - At least Mbeki was in denial. Zuma, the former head of the AIDS council, has uunprotected sex with multiple partners (a sterling example for SA's youth).
Crime - He claims to take it seriously, but only talks about it when he's talking to white people or organisations.
Let me take you back to when the ANC elected him - he told COSATU that he would stand up for worker's rights, the same week he went to big business and said nothing in SA would change. Yes, let's see how both will be happy with that.
People have a tendency to look at the things Mbeki did wrong and crucify him on that, he got a whole lot right too and give me a logical intellectual over an emotional one any day (emotion is dangerous in the person who leads your country).

 

[dlk001]

People have a tendency to look at the things Mbeki did wrong and crucify him on that, he got a whole lot right too and give me a logical intellectual over an emotional one any day (emotion is dangerous in the person who leads your country).

Zuma is vocal, clear and says what he thinks people want to hear. Whether he converts that into action is something that remains to be seen. I doubt he has the management skills to do so. I also doubt most of his candidates within the NEC are the right people for top government posts.

Mbeki is quiet, vague and does not say what people need to hear from a leader. Mbeki has failed in basic people leadership skills. That itself is a failure by any standards for a leader.

 

[icyrus]

People have a tendency to look at the things Mbeki did wrong and crucify him on that, he got a whole lot right too and give me a logical intellectual over an emotional one any day (emotion is dangerous in the person who leads your country).

So what has he got right then?

 

[CathJ]

Zuma is vocal, clear and says what he thinks people want to hear. Whether he converts that into action is something that remains to be seen. I doubt he has the management skills to do so. I also doubt most of his candidates within the NEC are the right people for top government posts.

He can't convert that into action, because he's said completely opposing things to different people - precisely because, as you say, he says what they want to hear.

 

[dlk001]

He can't convert that into action, because he's said completely opposing things to different people - precisely because, as you say, he says what they want to hear.

Indeed. Implementation of his actions is another thing. But to me, Zuma's hurdle is having the right people to do the job.

To push their individual ambitions, Zuma, Vavi, Blade, Mbalula, Phosa, Mantashe have used each other. The next hurdle is running an organization and a country. Just like in Zuma-Mbeki, I think their relationship will change.

 

[hoegh]

Mbeki's lack of action and un-willingness to express an opinion on matters such as AIDS, Zim and crime makes Zuma look good, I can be 100% sure that Mbeki has achieved many things since his election but these are things that the voting public does not notice. Zuma is simply taping into areas that the public are concerned about and its working, hell, even I find myself thinking that life under Zuma wouldn't be so bad(he has an opinion on important matters and he is willing to state them, unlike Mbeki! I would rather have a leader that has picked a side than one that sits on the fence and ums and aahs!)

I'm just concerned that Zuma is easily influnced by a small group of "comrades" who have motives which don't support the future successful development of this country.

 

[Jozi101]

Indeed. Implementation of his actions is another thing. But to me, Zuma's hurdle is having the right people to do the job.

Trust me he won't be doing the appointing. Vavi and all the others will be in charge. Zuma owes them everything and they won't let him forget that.

 

[HavocXphere]

Some problems I see with Zuma:

• He hasn't said anything himself yet...its all just speeches prepared by speech writers.
• He says whatever the audience wants to hear
• I haven't seen any unprepared/live reasoning ability. Can he think on his feet when someone throws him a question about the budget deficit/surplus trend?
• He attracts a certain type of supporters that don't subscribe to logic. E.g. Zuma supporters chanting "30 million".
• His idea of justice appears to be twisted: E.g. He recently suggested that police shouldn't ask too many questions when a mob brings a criminal to them & they should just lock him up. Ummm...evidence? Court case?
• The non-Zulus don't seem too chuffed about him
• I don't see Zuma turning around the Gov department that *all* flunked the AG reports. (Thanks Mbeki for that)
• Does Zuma have *any* knowledge about finances/markets/businesses?
• He doesn't appear to be very bright. E.g. Threatening to expose everyone if his corruption trial isn't stopped.

And then there is the minor inconvenience of corruption charges....

 

[kingmonty]

Zuma is vocal, clear and says what he thinks people want to hear. Whether he converts that into action is something that remains to be seen. I doubt he has the management skills to do so. I also doubt most of his candidates within the NEC are the right people for top government posts.

Mbeki is quiet, vague and does not say what people need to hear from a leader. Mbeki has failed in basic people leadership skills. That itself is a failure by any standards for a leader.

Excellent post. Well put.

 

[Jozi101]

[*]The non-Zulus don't seem too chuffed about him

You don't sound too chuffed either. Would that make you a "Non Zulu"?

 

[oronte]

So what has he got right then?

Everything beside AIDS, crime, Zimbabwe, and energy. To be fair crime is going down but it's still far too high. The economy's the biggest one - if that were wrong then you'd really have something to complain about. Besides Zim, as an international president he's been outstanding. Brokering so many deals with other countries, joining other developing countries in trade issues, and the AU, which might be a toothless dog now, but has the potential (with the right leadership) to transform Africa and was founded with the right attitude: Africans working together to solve their own problems.
While he's got some things wrong, and those are only the issues now because he got them wrong, South Africa is incredibly stable and growing. He's had to contend with incredible inequality and balance millions of issues and overall he's done a decent job. There is nothing about Jacob Zuma that suggests he actually knows what he's doing or could manage the same.

Zuma is vocal, clear and says what he thinks people want to hear. Whether he converts that into action is something that remains to be seen. I doubt he has the management skills to do so. I also doubt most of his candidates within the NEC are the right people for top government posts.

Mbeki is quiet, vague and does not say what people need to hear from a leader. Mbeki has failed in basic people leadership skills. That itself is a failure by any standards for a leader.

So Mbeki is a good manager but a bad leader (by your definition of leader). I think initially Mbeki did have good people leadership skills but somewhere along the line he got out of touch with what actual South Africans want now, but I think we will reap the benefits of some of his long-term planning in the future (eg. the AU, trade deals, prioritizing broadband access).

His big mistake (in my opinion) was not choosing a deputy president who had a chance to become president when he fired Zuma, and then going up for ANC president at Polokwane himself rather than throw his support behind the person he would have chosen to lead the country. So I think his biggest problem is ego.

 

[Jozi101]

Everything beside AIDS, crime, Zimbabwe, and energy. To be fair crime is going down but it's still far too high. The economy's the biggest one - if that were wrong then you'd really have something to complain about. Besides Zim, as an international president he's been outstanding. Brokering so many deals with other countries, joining other developing countries in trade issues, and the AU, which might be a toothless dog now, but has the potential (with the right leadership) to transform Africa and was founded with the right attitude: Africans working together to solve their own problems.
While he's got some things wrong, and those are only the issues now because he got them wrong, South Africa is incredibly stable and growing. He's had to contend with incredible inequality and balance millions of issues and overall he's done a decent job. There is nothing about Jacob Zuma that suggests he actually knows what he's doing or could manage the same.



So Mbeki is a good manager but a bad leader (by your definition of leader). I think initially Mbeki did have good people leadership skills but somewhere along the line he got out of touch with what actual South Africans want now, but I think we will reap the benefits of some of his long-term planning in the future (eg. the AU, trade deals, prioritizing broadband access).

His big mistake (in my opinion) was not choosing a deputy president who had a chance to become president when he fired Zuma, and then going up for ANC president at Polokwane himself rather than throw his support behind the person he would have chosen to lead the country. So I think his biggest problem is ego.

Agree 100%.

 

[icyrus]

Everything beside AIDS, crime, Zimbabwe, and energy. To be fair crime is going down but it's still far too high. The economy's the biggest one - if that were wrong then you'd really have something to complain about. Besides Zim, as an international president he's been outstanding. Brokering so many deals with other countries, joining other developing countries in trade issues, and the AU, which might be a toothless dog now, but has the potential (with the right leadership) to transform Africa and was founded with the right attitude: Africans working together to solve their own problems.
While he's got some things wrong, and those are only the issues now because he got them wrong, South Africa is incredibly stable and growing. He's had to contend with incredible inequality and balance millions of issues and overall he's done a decent job. There is nothing about Jacob Zuma that suggests he actually knows what he's doing or could manage the same.

Crime: What did he do to combat crime? He denied its severity long enough and then decided to disband one of the only functioning crime fighting units.

Economy: What positive effect did he have? Or is it sufficient to say that he didn't do a mugabe and hence we can give him this?

Trade: What trade ties are you referring to and what part did he play?

AU: So it is a toothless dog that has potential. Potential he couldn't realize? What has it actually achieved to date?

To even begin to say he has done a decent job, his successes would have to at least equal his failures, in amount or magnitude.

Some of his failures:
Crime
Education
Health care
Transportation
Energy
Telecommunications
Zimbabwe

What has he done to offset those huge failures?

 

[Hoof-Hearted]

I really liked Oronte's examples of Mbeki's long-term planning that we are going to reap the benifits of

AU - Lame duck... say no more

trade deals - arms deal? chinese dumping ?

prioritizing broadband access - bttlng t typ i*m lghing s hrd

Thnks mate... that was brilliant

 

[oronte]

Crime: What did he do to combat crime? He denied its severity long enough and then decided to disband one of the only functioning crime fighting units.

Economy: What positive effect did he have? Or is it sufficient to say that he didn't do a mugabe and hence we can give him this?

Trade: What trade ties are you referring to and what part did he play?

AU: So it is a toothless dog that has potential. Potential he couldn't realize? What has it actually achieved to date?

To even begin to say he has done a decent job, his successes would have to at least equal his failures, in amount or magnitude.

Some of his failures:
Crime
Education
Health care
Transportation
Energy
Telecommunications
Zimbabwe

What has he done to offset those huge failures?

None of these issues are as simple as pass or fail. Let's take education - how many young, black South Africans have had to contend with the sub-standard apartheid era education system? The new curriculum is actually great, but it just requires talented teachers to make it work. The only real problem is that we don't have enough teachers, but the Department of Education is working on recruitment drives. You can't simply say he failed on education, there are so many issues to look at in just this one area: building of new schools, especially in rural areas, performance of students, performance of teachers, etc. We won't be able to say it was a success or a failure for several decades to come.

Trade: He doesn't have to personally broker every deal, but consider SA's partnerships with countries like Russia, Brazil, and India. The AU is still a fairly new organisation and I don't understand what you expect to happen in five or six years, he alone can't realise it's potential, but it exists and its very existence is a positive start, but the AU has managed to send peace-keeping troops to several countries where the UN has not. It will need a lot of time and money to achieve its goals, but it's not going to happen overnight. All I'm saying is it's a good place to start on a continent filled with dictators, violence, and military coups.

Telecommunications is another difficult issue, is your concern how fast your broadband connection is or if pupils in rural KZN have any access at all (because some of them do now).

There is no pass/fail, no issue is that one dimensional. Some things have gone wrong, but you must accept that some have also gone right (unless you're just a pessimist).