IT should come as no surprise that Jacob Zuma has publicly endorsed the leadership qualities of Julius Malema. They are both after all the creations of a populist movement that place “the people” at the center of power.
Of course only certain people can magically understand what the people are thinking, usually those that shout the loudest and are the fastest to conjur up demons for the people to exorcise.
The demons (for there are two types) that are currently being exorcised by Zuma and Malema – on behalf of the people, of course – are the rag-tag remnants of the defeated Mbeki faction, whether they be local government councillors in Tshwane or Standerton or intellectuals such as Joel Netshitenzhe and Kader Asmal.
The former type of demon is not really worth defending. They have messed up local government and for years they have been untouchable. They deserve to be tarred and feathered. Provided of course that those that replace them are able to turn things around and not introduce a fresh round of incompetence with new beneficiaries reporting to a different master. The jury is still out on that.
But the second variety of demon is more complex.
To describe Netshitenzhe and Asmal as Mbeki cronies is an act of both callousness and calculated ignorance.
Netshitenzhe has always been a dyed-in-the-wool ANC operative. He has been one of very few who have resisted the trappings of high office, staying away from the power and money that comes with Cabinet appointments or business deals. He has stuck to his guns as the ANC ‘s leading intellectual light, delivering some of the most telling criticisms of government’s failings without flinching.
He has done so with humour, with insight and with an engaging ability to think laterally.
That he should be charicatured as a man who must “cleanse” himself for his political sins – as Malema’s Youth League has done – is grotesque.
So too are the assaults on Asmal. While in office Asmal was responsible for many of the ethical measures against which we were able as a nation to judge those in office.
Without him MPs and Cabinet ministers would not be forced to report their shareholdings and gifts to the public.
He established civillian control over government’s arms business, a strategy which worked when Nelson Mandela was president, but which waned under the leadership of Mbeki and Zuma where the political will to place human rights high on the agenda vaporised in the heat of opportunism.
What Malema’s Youth League appears to be doing is to set the scene for an assault on intellectuals – those who are critical of their rise to power, those who do not accept their reactionary racial stereotyping, those who want South Africa’s discourse to advance in the face of growing political thuggery.
Zuma appears ambivalent – he publicly praised Netshitenzhe, but it was he who demoted him and effectively driving him from the presidential office.
But this ambivalence is superficial. Out there with the masses, Zuma cannot resist hitching his bandwagon to populism.
At a rally with Malema, he is quoted in The Star newspaper saying: “Some of us are no longer young, and when we go across the mountain in terms of age, we are happy that when we go on, the organisation will remain in real hands of [those] who will think about the people. The ANC recognises talent and leadership and we give people an opportunity.”
And: “Julius has illustrated that he is indeed a good leader and that he understands the people.”
What a load of nonsense. For one thing, the people’s grievances about a lack of delivery have been very well understood by even the most junior researcher at the HSRC for over a decade and have even formed the basis of election campaigning in two general elections.
For another, “leadership” has not been shown by Malema. All he’s done is follow the baying crowd around, his eyes lighting up with the maginifent realisation that he has discovered a path to power.
Real leadership would be to demand the punishment by the law enforcement agencies of those who destroy property or threaten lives when they protest.
Mao persecuted and then demolished his political enemies by drawing a distinction between “actual socialism” and “dictatorial socialism”. Are we at the start of a culutural revolution?

Related posts:

1. Is the tide turning against Julius Malema?
2. ANC statement on outcome of Julius Malema hearing – full text
3. Yes, but what is Jacob Zuma’s vision for South Africa?
4. Malema’s unwise decision to open up a new front against Zuma
5. Malema apology drafted by ANC disciplinary committee – full text