Zuma Dodges Prison Again

The many lives of South Africa’s ex-President Jacob Zuma is a lesson in pragmatism for everyone.

I didn't want to write this article because the corruption of my country currently despairs me more than it angers. My reluctance slipped after half a litre of 7.5% German Eichbaum beer, and was persuaded by a 4.5% South African beer ironically labelled ‘Lion’. R36 ($2) later, I roar…

CORRUPTION QUESTION

Should an ex-President who commits crime go to prison? If he's found to have been unlawfully released from prison, should he go back to prison?

The simple answer is "Yes" but South Africa isn't a simple country, it's exceedingly crooked.

A QUICK & BRUTAL HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENCY

Democracy is, at best, an interpretation. At worst, it’s a marketing scheme given substance by other fake democracies calling it that.

The National Party sucked… but not enough for those ‘revolutionaries’ who entered a financial transaction with it, transferring apartheid into a democracy account.

The white supremacists from the old government got rebranded as liberals under the opposition party, the DA. This isn’t about them because the ANC has been in power for 29 years, the only party to boast having Presidents.

President Nelson Mandela

If you’re Gen Z, this is your trigger warning - I realise that Nelson Mandela is Black Jesus but I’m going to blaspheme anyway.

Mandela seems to have been a great guy, though his greatest deception was to appear uncomplicated. The only way he became the first President of Rainbow South Africa, and was given the Noble Peace prize, is if it was orchestrated by powers bigger than Africa.

The corporations that raped South Africa for a century, especially the mining companies grown from the backs of black slaves, were suspiciously allowed to keep their wealth, even allowed to move it to London.

Whilst they were sanctioning us, the USA hypocritically hung onto the strategic minerals they needed for their big weapons. The CIA worked with our military in the war in Angola and what is now known as Namibia. The CIA arranged Mandela’s arrest, and, during his 27 years of suffering on Robben Island, Coca-Cola built a monopoly.

On release, Mandela was a man of ethical deeds, calling for peace between races, and bizarrely gaining it by supporting the 1995 World Cup rugby matches - more important to most Whites than the overwhelming challenges of inequality.

In her 2019 speech at the Amsterdam City Theatre, Sisonke Msimang presented the contradiction of being Mandela:

“I want to suggest to you that the idea of Mandela as the Forgiver-In-Chief is not benign. I want to argue that, to the contrary, it is very dangerous. In the years since Apartheid ended, the story of Mandela’s forgiveness has taken on a life of its own. You might say a cult of forgiveness has emerged, with Mandela as its unwitting high priest. The Prophet Mandela has been reduced to a caricature of himself. This hijacked Mandela is a commodity. Today you can find him on tea cups and t-shirts. The other day I even saw Madiba leggings!

I don’t blame Mandela for this. This mythology was certainly not of his making. But it has spread like wildfire because it ties into already existing ideas about who we are as raced subjects; about the potential of black people for volatility and the desire white people have to be considered innocent of racial crimes.

Mandela is especially loved by my fellow white South Africans… The Mandela these white people love is ‘reasonable,’ and never angry. In an interesting parallel, White South Africans love Madiba the way many white Americans love Obama.  They have turned him into a saint, a teddy bear, a totem for peace and good vibes. This love, however, doesn’t seem to translate into real life actions. Mandela and Che Guevara and Gandhi. Incense and ohms.”

Mandela’s goodness was an American ad agency’s wet dream. However, at the start, Power was placed ahead of the People.

Mandela started the gravy train, not for himself, but a dual track that benefitted the ANC’s coffers instead of the Public, and allowed his previous jailers to steal from the Public during their retreat. Furthermore, cadre deployment destroyed meritocracy - allies and loyal party members became government officials, amplifying crime, becoming a mafia in everything but name.

President Thabo Mbeki

His successor was Thabo Mbeki.

Hundreds of thousands of people wouldn't have died if Mbeki (and Mandela) hadn't delayed treatment for mother-to-child HIV transmission, and antiretroviral therapy for AIDS victims. Mbeki considered criticism to be an attack on black culture. Similarly, maybe crime wouldn’t have gotten out of control if he hadn't labelled detractors as white racists.

Ironically, he bowed to the colonizer and accepted two honorary Knighthoods.

Under Mbeki, the 2010 FIFA World Cup was meant to be an example of the African Renaissance but became a symbol of financial loss and exploitation.

Although never found guilty of wrongdoing, he championed the Arms Deal that South Africa could not afford from Europe. It took 20 years for the country to pay the debt, the final amount never disclosed. The criminal profiteers of the deal - from South Africa, France, Sweden, Germany, and the UK - remain protected. Armed with ‘great’ new weapons, our military disintegrated into uselessness, and millions of immigrants flooded our mines, kitchens and gardens.

Mbeki was considered too European and intellectual by a faction in the ANC that appealed to emotions with its promises to take back the land (from the White man). Mbeki and, later, Cyril Ramaphosa, were perceived to be in the Western camp.

Jacob Zuma, Mandela’s deputy, was stark contrast. He was a Zulu traditionalist leaning towards Russia, the leader of the 'revolutionary' camp that saw no conflict in wanting communism and riches. He never tried to be clever. Instead he danced and laughed, and the People loved him for it.

The Mandela/Mbeki path to our destruction is generally ignored by Western media, but the sins of Zuma are focused on. If Mandela was the Saint, then Zuma is the Devil.

President Jacob Zuma

Jacob Zuma was infamous for his involvement in that unscrupulous Arms Deal. Schabir Shaik, the man who bribed him, was imprisoned but released after serving only 2 years of his 15-year prison term. Shaik’s “terminally ill” medical parole was obviously fraudulent because he was soon a regular on the golf course.

Too many scandals made many forget about Zuma's rape trial in 2005/2006. His accuser was Fezekile Kuzwayo. The identity of this 31-yr-old Durban woman was hidden, so she became known as Khwezi, that name emblazoned on protest signs.

Zuma oversaw the National AIDS Council and Moral Regeneration Campaign. He knew Khwezi was HIV-positive but never used a condom. He infamously suggested that he showered to lessen his chance of infection and was consequently lampooned with a showerhead on his forehead for years of cartoons (particularly in the 'Rape of Lady Justice').

During the trial, Khwezi's home was burnt down, she was spat on, the ANC Women's League labelled her a bitch, and Zuma danced outside the Court room with his supporters, singing 'Bring Me My Machine Gun'. To cover his legal fees, Zuma's defence fund sold a ringtone of him singing the song.

He was found innocent. She went into exile, but quietly returned, dying at the age of 41.

In 2009, after Mbeki quit and Kgalema Motlanthe had served in the interim, Zuma became President of South Africa.

He immediately became embroiled in Nkandlagate, wherein upgrades to his rural home cost R246 million, and even more was spent to build a highway to the nearest town. His claimed 'security upgrades' included a swimming pool, cattle kraal, chicken-run, guest buildings, and a private hospital.

It was a helluva Court battle which he won because he was only ordered to pay back R7.8-million. This became zero when was given a loan from VBS Mutual Bank that liquidated owing to corruption that cost taxpayers almost R2-billion.

In 2010, the colonizer returned, making Zuma, like Mbeki, an honorary member of the Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath. Politics is ridiculous except when it hurts.

Zuma’s above-mentioned notoriety went backstage to make room for widespread corruption called State Capture. Essentially, contracts were given to private companies who bribed officials and gained political influence.

The most well-known of these was the Gupta Family from India who became closely allied with Zuma and attempted to take over the Treasury. They later escaped to the United Arab Emirates, and then bought citizenship from the island of Vanuatu.

A 2017 report found against Zuma, but he stonewalled by appealing and setting up the Zondo Commission just before he left office in 2018.

The Commission held Public hearings on television for years, unveiling massive crime that resulted in assassination. It released its findings in 2022, but no one has been punished so far.

PRESIDENT CYRIL RAMAPHOSA

Cyril Ramaphosa became Zuma’s successor.

Whereas Mandela was selected to be President, Ramaphosa was initially selected to become a billionaire. The biggest corporations, many dealing with the State, literally gave him free shares. Instead of money going to the poor, he was marketed by the West as a “symbol of black empowerment”.

"Cyril Ramaphosa is a towering figure of post-apartheid South Africa who eschewed his political prospects in order to become a billionaire businessman in the new order. He is the embodiment of South Africa’s black economic empowerment (BEE) policy, or the redistribution of wealth away from the largely white-owned commercial establishment... His appeal as a partner comes from his political connections. Mr Ramaphosa was a prominent trade unionist and became the African National Congress’s lead negotiator in the talks that led to the end of apartheid in 1994."

In conflict of interest with his position in the ANC, and in hypocrisy of having first made a name for himself in the National Mineworkers’ Union, Ramaphosa acted as a shareholder in the Lonmin mine at Marikana. He used his clout to call for strong action by the police against striking workers. Although cleared of responsibility, he hasn’t escaped the stain of the 34 who were shot dead, many in the back, and some so far from police lines that they could never have been considered a threat. A further 78 were injured.

Ramaphosa knows how to pretend. In 2018, at the Centenary Celebrations of the birth of Nelson Mandela, he said:

“A defining moment in his [Mandela’s] political development was when he was able to overcome his hostility towards the Communist Party of South Africa.

Through hours of intensive engagement with comrades like Walter Sisulu and Moses Kotane, he came to appreciate the contribution of communists in the National Democratic Revolution.

He came to understand the class content of the national struggle and the national content of the class struggle.”

In 2022, South Africa was introduced to a version of Ramaphosa they never knew. The robbery and cover-up would become known as the Phala Phala Farmgate Scandal, in which “thieves raided Ramaphosa's game farm in February 2020, found at least $4 million in foreign cash hidden in furniture, and made off with the money.”

Suspiciously, the Public Protector who was to investigate him, and who is considered to be a Zuma faction supporter, was removed from her position whilst a tribunal, headed by an ANC member, would determine her unfitness for office. Her temporary replacement then impossibly cleared Ramaphosa of wrongdoing.

Ramaphosa is the current President of South Africa. He’s estimated to be worth $500-million. His brother-in-law, Patrice Motsepe, is worth $2.9-billion .

THE 9 LIVES OF JACOB ZUMA

Zuma is on trial for “charges of racketeering, two counts of corruption and 12 counts of fraud – nine of which are for allegedly making false income tax returns. He is charged along with French arms manufacturer Thales.”

Zuma’s resistance to prosecution for the past 17 years is more impressive than his 6 wives and 21 children. Wikipedia includes him under the definition for 'Stalingrad Legal Defence' which is:

"A strategy usually used by a defendant to wear down the plaintiff or legal proceedings by appealing every ruling that is unfavorable to the defendant and using whatever other means possible to delay proceedings. Typically, a meritorious case is not presented by the defendant. The term comes from the World War II era Battle of Stalingrad where the Soviet Union won the battle by wearing down attacking German forces over the course of 5 months.

A notable use of this legal defense strategy was by former South African president Jacob Zuma in attempting to avoid giving testimony before the Zondo Commission into state corruption. Zuma used a number of legal challenges, medical delays, private prosecutions, and other means to attempt to cause the commission to run out of time before he would have to appear before it."

Zuma has yet to be judged for those charges but was found guilty of contempt of Court, on 29 June 2021, for having failed to testify. He was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment.

Two days later, riots erupted across South Africa, especially in his home province of KwaZulu-Natal and the city of Durban. It would seem that it was planned, Zuma’s arrest used as a spark to ignite social unrest by poor people. 354 people died and 5500 were arrested. Damage to local businesses was extensive.

"By Monday afternoon on 12 July, more than 200 shopping centres had been looted, with several in Soweto having been ransacked. On 14 July, the SA Pharmacy Council noted that 90 pharmacies were completely destroyed with the bulk of those in KwaZulu-Natal being hit the hardest. In Durban, during a 14 July media briefing, the mayor of eThekwini announced that up to 45,000 businesses were affected with 129,000 jobs at stake and over R16 billion (nearly $1 billion or £793 million) in damages to stock, property, and equipment.

ICASA announced that 113 network towers had been vandalised, resulting in the disruption of cellular networks. The National Professional Teachers' Organisation of South Africa decried the looting and vandalism of 32 KwaZulu-Natal schools, one of which burned down, as contemptible. In Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, a crematorium was completely destroyed.

According to Ntshavheni, 161 shopping malls, 11 warehouses and eight factories in Kwazula-Natal suffered significant damages. More than 200 shopping centres suffered looting or damage according to her, while 100 malls were subject to arson attacks, 161 liquor outlets and distributors were damaged, 1,400 ATMs and 90 pharmacies were damaged and about 300 banks and post offices were vandalized."

2 months later, in a manner similar to Schabir Shaik, Zuma was released on medical parole, and sent home.

The bigger hook is that the Medical Parole Advisory Board had advised against parole, but it was given by Arthur Fraser, the Correctional Services Commissioner, the same man who exposed Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala disgrace. Notably, Fraser was previously in charge of civilian intelligence operations, appointed by Zuma as the Director-General of the State Security Agency (SSA).

The opposition and private NGOs appealed against the order and won. Zuma was ordered back to prison, with his parole time not counting towards his sentence. He appealed, adding another brick to his Stalingrad Defence.

The Supreme Court of Appeal repeated that the medical parole was unlawful, but the Department of Correctional Services appealed to the Constitutional Court. The latter reiterated that the release was illegal but strangely left it up to National Commissioner of Correctional Services, Makgotho Thobakgale, to determine if Zuma should return, or if his period under parole should be considered as time served.

FREE

Today, August 11, Thobakgale announced that Zuma’s sentence was complete, and that he was a free man.

This was described by Justice Minister Ronald Lamola as remission to alleviate overcrowding in prisons, a process affecting 9,000 prisoners, and having begun in April.

Remission for non-violent offenders is laudable, especially considering the terrible conditions inside, but the timing is suspicious. Did Ramaphosa plan this so that the ANC wouldn’t be divided, and thus stronger for next year’s election?

It is not yet known when Zuma will be forced to return to Court to testify.

Zuma is 81-yrs-old. No matter what happens, he’s had a good life.

POWER VERSUS THE STUPID PEOPLE?

I’m not only reporting, but I’m not virtue signalling, and my feet aren’t stamping about corruption.

I spent 11 years fighting DA corruption and they, with assistance from the ANC and compromised judges, squashed me. How do I define politics and its purpose when the liberals and the socialists, and the capitalists and the communists, sleep in the same bed but wear different make-up in public? Surely it’s unrealistic of me to try separate Mandela, Mbeki, Zuma and Ramaphosa into good versus evil, something the Media expects us to do?

So, what am I doing? I sure didn’t know when I started this article but now I’m thinking that I’m teaching myself a lesson in pragmatism.

He who has the power is more powerful that he who doesn’t. A politician with an army is almost always stronger than an activist with a laptop. Julian Assange is going to jail, Edward Snowden is stuck in Russia, and Babitha Deokoran is dead.

Using morals as a negotiating tactic is stupid. Only leverage causes compromise, and a rare win is likely a zero-sum game. In the thick of it, there’s my previous warning that it isn't democracy, just fucking boxes and chairs.

The world is divided between those who seek power and those who complain about them. Which of the two do you think has a better life?

If you’re a doer, a brave soul willing to fight to the death for your apathetic friends, then you have the right to disagree with me. If not, then consider this a parable.