The President Responds - or Does he?

Anyone witnessing the televised debate in which President Zuma replied to questions by MPs on the State of the Nation Address must come to two, or possibly three, conclusions.

The first inescapable conclusion is that Zuma is adroit at ducking direct questions.  His replies, demanding direct and informative replies, were ducked or responded to with generalities and, where the MPs were not satisfied with the replies, he either denied having the information or simply denied any allegations or fingers pointed to him.  If he were the Managing Director of a company, his performance would have earned him a termination notice.  In this performance, he was ably assisted by the Speaker, who confirmed her allegiance to Zuma and to the ANC by quieting any difficult questioners.  It is noteworthy that, when an MP demanded that Zuma be asked to sit down while a point of order was being raised, as would be done to all other MPs, the Speaker stated clearly that Zuma and Buthelezi are not equal to other MPs and therefore cannot be treated in the same way.  It is now as official as it can be:  Jacob Zuma is not at the same level as other citizens in this ‘democracy’.  He is not subject to the same rules, regulations and laws as the rest of us.  If you have any doubt about the interpretation of the facts that citizens are able to observe from time to time, and more frequently as time goes on, that Jacob Zuma is building a power base to preserve his hold on power in South Africa by any means possible and necessary.

The second inescapable conclusion is that Zuma does not consider himself answerable to Parliament.  In the current dispensation, Parliament is no more than a discussion forum with rubber stamp powers, to approve what Zuma and his cronies want.  It is not a body that can demand real answers, put real questions to the Executive or demand real information, for the purpose of evaluating the effectiveness, honesty or direction of the rulers of the country.  The South African ‘democracy’ has devolved into a quasi-dictatorship, in which the Constitution and the rules of Parliament are no more than inconvenient pieces of paper.

The third conclusion, if you wish to go that far, is that South Africa is heading rapidly towards the typical African Basket Case country, in which a core group of incapable and incompetent people are making all of the decisions.  They have already grabbed the power, a fact which is only now becoming clear, although they still feel the need to pull the wool over the eyes of the electorate.  The only question that remains is when Zuma will no longer feel the need to undergo this process which, apparently, is not a congenial one to him.

At a minimum, it is clear that any person who wishes to live in a progressive, modern society should be seriously concerned at the continued rule of this President.