Where was Zuma during the fires?

Where were you when the fires spread, and communities cried out for help? That question is directed not at ordinary South Africans but at political leadership so embroiled in controversy that it cannot see the forest for the trees, even when the forest is burning.

Government reaction to the killer blazes that ravaged the southern and Eastern Cape has been at best tardy. People who should have been seen and heard were absent.

Instead of leading from the front, not-my-president Jacob Zuma and fellow Gupta captives spent their time defending indefensible crookery. They have forgotten to serve the people.

When communities are traumatised by natural disasters, national leaders should step forward. To have a president or minister physically present gives an indication that the state cares for the people affected; that the government is there to help. In a time of crisis, the symbolism of leadership is important.

It should be noted that Western Cape Premier Helen Zille, at the centre of a political firestorm, pitched up in person in Knysna. The smouldering ruins of parts of that town reminded her of photos of bombed-out Dresden in World War II Germany. When Zille landed, new fires were closing in on Sedgefield, Buffels Baai and parts of George. Strong winds had grounded firefighting helicopters.

Apart from Zille’s appearances, most of the visible leadership during this crisis came from community members, with the indefatigable Yusuf Abramjee featuring prominently. Where was Zuma? Where were his ministers, those sycophantic Zuptoids?

Could it be that they were afraid of being booed, as has happened to Zuma of late? Have they got wind of the mood sweeping the country, where people are beyond gatvol with daily disclosures of grand-scale looting of state (taxpayers’) resources?

Or could it be that they just don’t give a damn. Like the Emperor Nero, who fiddled while Rome burned, they are out of touch. They’re too distracted by their own pastimes to care when flames wreak destruction.

Surely it is not possible that the Zuptas, whose new-sworn enemy is white monopoly capital, are in the same racist league as those Twitter users who expressed amusement and pleasure because they believed the fires were affecting rich white people? Surely not?

In reality most of the people living in the area are neither rich nor white. Natural disasters are great levellers, treating rich and poor with equal ferocity. The same argument applies if the out-of-control fires were started by arsonists. The flames would not discriminate.

Of course we can dismiss any suggestion that the lack of Zupta response to the Cape fires was party-political in nature. Offers of sympathy and support could not be dependent on affiliation. Perish the thought.

However, we can say Zuma and those who surround him lack ubuntu. Indeed, the absence of a coherent response from the Zuma crew to the Cape fire tragedy demonstrates how corruption has gutted these comrades.

In the pursuit of unearned wealth, essential virtues of compassion and humanity have gone up in smoke.

DA city councillor for Joburg Martin Williams