One major contribution of politics in a society is to ensure equal distribution of resources to the citizens. Distributing resources provides an opportunity for citizens and taxpayers to have access to public services such as water, health, education and infrastructure of high quality.
Becoming a politician means that one has a standing in the society where he/she could contribute to socio-economic development of the country.
However, this was not the case during Jacob Zuma’s administration. His appointment of ministers in his cabinet was highly controversial.
Through the subsequent state capture, Zuma oversaw the collapse of public institutions. Government then no longer served the interests of its citizens.
The Constitutional Court ruling which made findings against him for violating the Constitution, especially regarding refurbishment of his homestead in Nkandla remains a critical reference point to our lowest moments as a country.
In the end, Zuma was ordered to repay the government money he used to upgrade his home.
This is serious because the president by our constitutional design should be at the forefront of upholding and defending the Constitution. Again, the issue of state capture, which was facilitated through his friends and family, has paralysed most of our public institutions. For South Africans, Zuma’s conduct and moral compass during his presidency has led to a serious paralysis of public institutions, which are currently struggling to provide quality services to South Africans.
Obviously, dysfunctional public institutions are some of the issues that are still haunting the governing party (African National Congress).
Zuma hijacked the good governance project for his own selfish interests to support his shenanigans and now he is doing the same with MK.
The MK Party of Zuma has nothing substantial to offer South Africa. The party is there for the protection of Zuma, it doesn’t have the interests of all South Africans at heart, nor does it follow any political ideology.
To become the figurehead of the newly-formed uMkhonto weSizwe party (MK), Zuma is pushing the ANC further out to pasture, especially in hotly contested KwaZulu-Natal.
In essence, this is intentional as he is stealing the ANC’s legacy. The silence of the ANC leadership and the rank-and-file membership on this matter is a clear indication that the
party is struggling to understand its own heritage.
Future generations are going to be bequeathed with a distorted history, and the ANC needs to wake up urgently.
Since uMkhonto weSizwe was the military wing of the ANC pre-1994, defending itself from such conduct needs to remain its priority. For anyone to be using the name uMkhonto weSizwe outside its proper historical context is, to a large degree, unethical and morally void. This is because uMkhonto weSizwe is part of the ANC’s heritage. It is associated with ANC stalwarts who contributed immensely to the liberation of South Africa, facilitating a peaceful transition to democratic South Africa.
It was, however, dissolved when the new, inclusive South African National Defence Force was formed, which incorporated some of the military personnel of political parties from the armed struggle.
This newly formed party is already stoking the fears of ethnic violence in KwaZula-Natal, which was so prevalent in the lead up to the 1994 election. It once again shows that Zuma has no regard for the rules that we as a society abide by. He is also violating the ANC’s legacy, and the ANC needs to stand up and ask: “How are we protecting our our legacy against someone who is stealing it.”
But the ANC knows that Zuma’s ability to connect with grassroots voters is his strong suite, and it is almost futile to try and stifle his influence, especially in rural KwaZulu-Natal. The ANC won’t beat him there because when he presents himself as a victim, many members of our society fall for that every time he uses the trick. The times may have changed, but Zuma has not. At what cost that strategy is to the ANC, only the upcoming election will tell.
- Phago is the director of the School for Government Studies at the North-West University
