Writing on the wall for arrogant Zuma and his cronies

Aloofness and arrogance from the Zuma camp have divided the ANC and the tripartite alliance.

President Jacob Zuma. (Photo by Gallo Images / Thapelo Maphakela)

Political insight is not confined to professional analysts. Sometimes ordinary folk see more clearly than supposed experts.

Gurus have been quoted ad nauseam since President Jacob Zuma was booed and prevented from speaking at Cosatu’s abortive Workers’ Day rally in Bloemfontein on Monday.

But what was it really about? An astute answer came from an unnamed worker interviewed by eNCA reporter Thulasizwe Simelane, moments after Zuma had been driven away in a blue-light motorcade.

Simelane asked the worker to explain, while thrusting a microphone at him through the tall security fence which had been erected to keep out anti-Zuma protesters.

In an impromptu summation, Mr Anonymous Worker said: “It happened because of the arrogance of the president … and the ANC … the ANC didn’t listen”.

True. Aloofness and arrogance from the Zuma camp have divided the ANC and the tripartite alliance. All the ANC leaders who were booed on Monday have one thing in common – arrogance. Baleka Mbete is habitually arrogant as National Assembly Speaker and as ANC national chair. You’ve seen her in action on TV. Arrogance is also the hallmark of ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte.

Who do they think they are, these ANC nabobs? They have enjoyed high office and wealth for so long; they have forgotten the people who put them there. Given the objective reality that Cosatu’s central executive committee had asked for Zuma to step down, it was arrogant of the Zuma crew to imagine they could prevail on May Day.

Cosatu president Sdumo Dlamini did not speak for the federation when he offered warm greetings on Zuma’s 75th birthday last month, or when he sat next to the president at the Bloemfontein rally. No amount of spin in the build-up could change that.

The reasons for anti-Zuma sentiment are well-worn and obvious. He has become so compromised by his Saxonwold connections that he is incapable of acting in the best interests of the country. At every disrupted rally, the name Gupta was shouted with contempt.

Knowing the reasons is one thing, seeing the pattern is another. In human behaviour there is an ineluctable consequence of overweening arrogance. The biblical proverb, “Pride goeth before a fall”, is just one example of how this knowledge is imparted down the generations.

Through legends such Oedipus (a nervous rex) and Achilles, ancient Greeks cautioned against a character flaw called hubris. Webster’s dictionary defines hubris as, “extreme pride, especially pride and ambition so great that they offend the gods and lead to one’s downfall”.

Similarly, ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius taught that, “Humility is the solid foundation of all virtue”. Another warning against arrogance.

During the French Revolution, Marie Antoinette probably did not say of hungry rioters, “Let them eat cake”. Yet the story endures as a cautionary tale against arrogant elites who lose touch with the masses.

Today, Zuptas are financially immune to the effects of SA’s downgrade to junk status. But they cannot escape their human fate. The script is written. Zuptas will fall.