By James N. Kariuki
Nothing has captured the conflicting forces at work in contemporary SA as eloquently as what has come to be known as the Marikana Massacre of August 2012. The killing of 34 miners and injuring 78 by police is a volatile issue because it has magnified for all to see the plight of the poor in a country endowed with staggering wealth. Condemnation of the Marikana tragedy spread around the world like wild fire, placing responsibility for it squarely at the door of Jacob Zuma's leadership.
The unfortunate tragedy has also revived the political life into the ANC’s outcast, Julius Malema, who has nearly succeeded in conjuring up an image that the Marikana issue is a brutal reminder that the country’s mining industry is controlled by whites who have successfully embedded ‘local agents’ into their midst. Both will not hesitate to unleash lethal state power to protect their shared interests.
After all, when the miners were gunned down, they were not a threat. They were not occupying a public place or holding hostages. Neither were they occupying mining property. They were merely gathered to protest against their working conditions.
According to Malema, the miners were killed because there is no solid leadership in the country to safeguard their basic rights. Was the attack mere empty rhetoric or a serious political assertion?
Post-colonial Africa has had a handful of great leaders and they have shared one distinguishing feature. Each embarked upon an idea that captured and energized his countrymen. They had a conception of their ideal society.
Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah had the vision of a United States of Africa. He did much in search for its fulfillment, including unbridled commitment against apartheid. Ghanaians of the day were ‘sold’ to the notion of Pan-Africanism.
Tanzania’s Julius Nyerere was another great African leader. He is highly regarded for many qualities but most of all for his vision of equality of man. In its quest, he rejected foreign ideologies as the ideal socio-economic arrangements and advocated a form of African socialism which he called ujamaa.
Post-apartheid South Africa has had trappings of great leadership too. Nelson Mandela had a vision of justice for all. To that end he was much tormented. Yet, upon release from three decades of imprisonment, he preached ‘suffering without bitterness’ and urged reconciliation in a society deeply scarred by racial strife.
Mbeki too subscribed to a vision of African Renaissance. He longed for African renewal so that the continent could take its rightful place in world affairs. Mbeki thus devoted considerable resources to forging unity of purpose in the Black World and sorting out conflicts in it. In addition to reaching out to the Black Diaspora, he nurtured a superb working relationship with the fellow African giant: Nigeria.
In Zuma’s case, quality leadership was elusive from the outset, compromised in part by his personal realities and circumstances surrounding him. Briefly, he appeared destined to become the champion of the poor but, alas, that was not his calling. That distinction was usurped and tightly held by the leader of the ANC Youth League, Julius Malema. Indeed, a time came when Malema would charge publicly that Zuma did not care about the poor.
Critics have argued that it was absurd on the part of society to expect novel ideas on socio-economic transformation from a man who barely had formal schooling. Others point to the ANC’s electoral system which does not demand of its presidential contenders to compete for the highest position in the land. The party leader automatically becomes the presidential nominee to face the candidate fielded by the opposition parties. Even then in SA there has been no contest thereafter, given the ANC’s political dominance.
Put simply, Zuma was never pushed to explain to the SA voters why he personally was the best candidate for the country. Put another way, Zuma was never challenged to articulate his personal vision for SA. So, how did he wind up in the Union Buildings?
Greatness was thrust upon Jacob Zuma via the political strength of the ANC. Citizens did not vote for Zuma, they voted for that party and all that it symbolizes. Zuma sought ascendancy to power, not because he subscribed to an electrifying ideology, but because he had a desperate need to insulate himself from the legal woes that dogged him. The driving force was not a dream for SA; it was a natural and understandable longing to stay out of prison.
Once in power, Zuma survived by treading water. His political style became that of not-rocking the boat. By hook or by crook, he would maintain positive political connections with those who influenced ANC votes.
In this way, Zuma inadvertently became a president of status quo and inaction; he dared not be a force of change. In addition, a pleasing-all political stance meant that he would not assert his authority against those who violated the rules of the game. This was illustrated poignantly by his relationship with the ANC Youth League maverick, Julius Malema.
Prior to Malema’s expulsion from the ANC, Zuma shielded him from frequent accusations of damaging public utterances. The president was the only person in a position to effectively restrain defiant Malema but Zuma’s views were that “the youth have to be forgiven for their exuberance.” This was so until the same Malema challenged Zuma’s legitimacy to be the president. Zuma then acted quickly; Malema’s onslaught was quick and complete.
Presumably, for the same reason that he originally sought the presidency, Zuma now longs for a second term. To this end, he is said to have devoted much time in the past year. That absence has created a leadership vacuum in his government. This, and his unpreparedness to uphold discipline even within his own cabinet because he typically shies away from making politically unpleasant decisions, has paralyzed his leadership even further.
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