ANALYSIS| Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma: Two sides of the same toxic coin

So, the paragon of political intellectualism — former President Thabo Mbeki — has resurfaced again to attempt once more to indoctrinate South Africans to believe that he is the best to ever do it in leading the country.

This while Mbeki’s successor at Union Buildings and Luthuli House, Jacob Zuma, is doing the same through his Umkhonto Wesizwe Party (MKP), seeking to rewrite history and paint himself as a head of state who was a radical and a thorn on the side of liberals and imperialists.

Mbeki, after several attempts before, has now come back with the African Renaissance Podcast, hosted by his hype man, Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi.

The story of Zuma and Mbeki, who both at 83 years of age refuse to retire in peace and accept that they did their part, is an interesting one because the two men have more in common than they are willing to admit.

It is actually little wonder that they were once joined at the hip as a formidable duo. One that crushed everyone on their political path, until their own fallout in 2005.

Even during this fallout which continues to date, their characters and political personalities resemble identical twins. While they would respectively want the public to believe otherwise.

In their heads, Mbeki and Zuma are always right. And that is the hill they are willing to die on and will do everything and anything to convince all willing to listen that they committed nor wrong while heads of state.

Mbeki has tried this with his once infamous Monday letters. This was before his popular Unisa public lectures, and now his legacy foundation’s African Renaissance Podcast.

Zuma, on the other hand, who thrives in political showmanship, is doing it through political speech. In sometimes senseless rallies organised by his MKP to brush his ego.

Mbeki, in the first episode of his new Podcast, has not disappointed. He told us that South Africa’s first 15 years of the democratic dispensation was the golden age.

That is the period he was central in the running of state affairs between 1994 and 2009 when his ex-best friend Zuma took over.

Obviously, being interviewed by Ndlozi, using carefully selected statistics to pretend there’s fairness in branding those years as the golden age was expected.

As one legendary Steve Khompela once remarked: “stats are like a bikini, they do not reveal everything.”

You will never hear about the destruction that came with the shutting down of technical colleges such as teachers’ colleges and agricultural colleges during this “golden age”, among many controversies.

Obviously, Mbeki would like all of us to believe that bad things in the state started only after ANC 2007 Polokwane conference that elected Zuma to replace him.

Of course, in part, he may be right. But to wholly pin everything wrong on this crucial political moment, which by the way can be blamed on him, is narrow.

In Mbeki’s version of events, 2007 Polokwane was the point in our political history in which so-called “counterrevolutionary forces” took power back through Zuma and solidified grip on power in 2017 through incumbent President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Zuma himself does the same since leaving office in 2018. He pretends that his was a tough task to unshackle SA from Mbeki’s neoliberalism grip to pro-black radical economic transformation (RET).

Although a lot of positives happened under Zuma, he is less interested to hear about the pillaging of state institutions during his nine years at the helm of the state.

This is the same Zuma who opposed the correct Fees Must Fall movement that called for fee-free education in institutions of higher learning during his tenure, only for him to opportunistically declare free education on the eve of exiting public office.

Just like he is accused of not being a genuine ANC cadre by his predecessor Mbeki, Zuma holds the same views about his successor Ramaphosa.

For the past 20 years on the trot, South African politics have revolved around these two fossils who are just refusing to leave the dance floor.

Another one is even trying to come back to influencing public policy via the now troubled National Dialogue. While another has blatantly said that he wants to “finish what I started”. Whatever that is, after exiting office a year before official end of second term.

One would have thought that both men, after serving nine years wherein both good and bad things happened, they would accept that no one is perfect and leave it to others to continue the work.

But no, because it is Mbeki and Zuma, South Africa must constantly be subjected to their toxic politicking of “I was perfect”. As if anyone is until the end of time.