Calls to curtail Zuma’s powers due to abuse

Jacob Zuma’s abuse of his presidential powers to pursue his personal agenda has led to calls from a number of influential individuals within and outside the ANC for these powers to be curtailed.

They believe Number One’s right to appoint and fire Cabinet ministers and heads of state institutions is excessive. Political analyst Dr Somadoda Fikeni said the drafters of the constitution never anticipated a president would one day be the subject of investigation for wrongdoing.

“When they made this constitution, they were considering Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo and Walter Sisulu but as time went by, it became clear that the same constitution could be abused.”

Fikeni cited the Nkandla saga and state capture as among the issues the president was centrally involved in. On top of this, Zuma’s appointment of incompetent people to key positions showed no logic.

“Instead, factionalism and political patronage are always a major consideration in all appointments, whether in the Cabinet or state institutions,” he said.

United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa also said this week that the constitution was formulated with an ideal president like Mandela in mind and not a “rogue element” like Zuma.

He suggested that parliament’s role must be elevated so that new Cabinet appointments are vetted by parliament’s ethics committee and the public.

He told Talk 702’s Eusebius McKaiser there was a need to review the power of the president to appoint individuals in key state departments and institutions such as the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

The idea should be to introduce checks and balances in who is appointed . Holomisa said Zuma could not be trusted with too much power.

“When we drew up this constitution, we had thought we would always have a person like Mandela as president.

“We had not catered for the day we would have a rogue element sitting in the Union Buildings.”

He said potential Cabinet ministers, heads of state-owned enterprises and the head of the NPA should be tested to see if they were suitable for office by the parliamentary ethics committee.

Another analyst, Professor Susan Booysen, said Zuma had failed to exercise constraint in taking certain decisions.

“There is no recognition on his side that he is on his last leg of his presidency. He acts as if he is the only one.

“At the same time, we should understand that he is a president under siege and this is his survival strategy,” she said.

This year, Zuma fired Pravin Gordhan as finance minister, resulting in the rand’s value dropping and the country being downgraded to junk status by international ratings agencies.

Before that, he dismissed Gordhan’s predecessor, Nhlanhla Nene.

ANC presidential hopeful Mathews Phosa was scathing. “He is an executive president and has the power. He should take decisive executive decisions. Instead, he vacillates and fails to execute the decisions and actions he is supposed to execute.

“But he can’t decide or act properly because our president is confl icted by the state capture,” Phosa said.

This week ANC presidential candidate Lindiwe Sisulu said Zuma’s powers should be diluted into a party collective. – ericn@citizen.co.za