Judge president on his delivery

At the ANC’s elective conference in Polokwane in 2007, I had a discussion with a delegate named Gabriel.

Gabriel appeared to be highly appreciative of Thabo Mbeki’s acumen and sheer diligence. Surprisingly, Gabriel was also in awe of Jacob Zuma’s humility and sociable personality. To me Gabriel appeared to be neither a Mbeki nor a Zuma loyalist. He was the kind of party member who respected any leadership credibly elected.

Towards the end of our talk, he made this prophetic remark: “Comrade Zuma will probably defeat Mbeki in their contest for party presidency. However, the country’s educated elite will not approve of such an eventuality. The educated elite will connive and gang up on Zuma’s presidency and government”.

I asked Gabriel who this educated elite was. Without mincing any words, he answered, “it is a hyper-influential group of highly educated people in the country. These persons are located in some universities, research centres, judiciaries and in the media. These educated elite are ideologically and intellectually loyal to comrade Mbeki”.

The current macro-political currents remind me of the discussion I had with Gabriel. The country’s educated elite is evidently unappreciative and dismissive of Zuma’s government. These educated elite are covertly supported by a complex nexus of political opposition parties.

Since 2009 our mainstream media has been reporting very negatively on Zuma. He had been cast as a leader who is unintelligent, immoral and viciously corrupt. This kind of media characterisation is extremely unfair and unbalanced. It is commonly known that Zuma does not possess any degree or diploma. However, that should not be used as a test to gauge his talents, skills and competence.

Some newspaper editors are only interested in stories that cast Zuma in a very bad light. This anti-Zuma conspiracy is also evident in our judiciary. There are some court judges who are always prepared to give judgments that are against Zuma and his government. Since 2009, the Constitutional Court has never ruled in favour of the national government.

Opposition parties, led by the DA, are using our courts to frustrate the Zuma administration. The DA is fond of resorting to the courts whenever it (DA) disagrees with government decisions. Interestingly, our courts are equally fond of ruling in favour of the DA. That should not be interpreted as a symbolism of luck on the part of the DA. Recently, the Constitutional Court just ruled that the DA has a right to call Zuma a thief. That is proof that there is a powerful coordinated conspiracy against Zuma and his government.

The educated elite do not perceive Zuma as a symbol of intellectualism and modernity. The paramount mission of these elite is to propagate for the political downfall of Zuma. The educated elite are a very secret organisation that is driving the anti-Zuma conspiracy. The anti-Zuma conspiracy is fuelled by the knowledge that Zuma does not have a university degree. It is excessively foolish to judge a president based on his academic background. Zuma should be assessed based on his competence and service-delivery profile.

Elvis Masoga

Political analyst