In recent months many otherwise rational beings have complained that it is a waste of energy to voice concern about South African political governance. President Jacob Zuma, they argue, knows precisely what he’s doing and couldn’t give a fig about criticism. These cynics may think differently after reading what follows. Earlier this week, Max du Preez, the 63 year old author, journalist and former editor of the anti-Apartheid newspaper Vrye Weekblad, ripped into South Africa’s President. His column, published by supposed Zuma-lapdog Independent Newspapers, argues that economic devastation wrought by Zuma and his cadres will take years to repair. It’s not the first time such strong opinions have been aired. Western Cape Premier Helen Zille, a former anti-Apartheid journalist herself, penned a similarly personal attack earlier this month. What is different this time is the spirited response from The Presidency, which terms Du Preez’s opinion piece “mind boggling”. Have a read of both and you be the judge.  – AHÂ
Zuma – SA’s one man wrecking ball
By Max du Preez
The devastation caused by that one-man wrecking ball – Jacob Zuma – will take years to rebuild, even if he were to leave office tomorrow.
Sounds a bit harsh? Well, I don’t think the serious damage this president has inflicted upon our political culture and our key institutions deserves softer condemnation.
Zuma was never going to match the analytical and intellectual acumen of his predecessors. But he did represent a significant section of South African society that had been under-represented in the top echelons since 1994 and he was our first Zulu-speaking president.
If he had surrounded himself with able ministers and advisers and listened to them he could still have been an exemplary president. He was closer to the people than any of his predecessors and had a strong reputation as a listener and a peacemaker.
But the after-effects of his corrupt relationship (in the words of a judge) with his financial adviser, the debt he owed to those who put him in power and his obvious view that he was more of an African chief than the president of a modern democracy led him on a different path.
His only talent we did experience was that of a political street fighter and manipulator, a talent he had perfected as the head of intelligence of Umkhonto we Sizwe while in exile. He masterfully outmanoeuvered those who stood up to him and instilled a culture of fear in his party. He richly rewarded those loyal to him through a vast system of patronage and massively enriched his own family and clan in the tradition of Mobuto Sese Seko (former president of Zaire, now the DRC) and Robert Mugabe.
The golden thread running through his six years as president was his determination to stay out of court (and jail) with more than 700 charges of corruption, fraud and racketeering hanging over his head.
In the process he co-opted and corrupted the entire intelligence machinery, the National Prosecuting Authority, the police service and the SABC. Tenderpreneurship blossomed and corruption mushroomed with almost no consequences for perpetrators.
These tendencies moved a key member of the Tripartite Alliance, Cosatu general secretary Zwelenzima Vavi, to declare back in 2010: “We’re headed for a full-blown predator state where a powerful, corrupt and demagogic elite of political hyenas are increasingly using the state to get rich.”
The Nkandla scandal is the one that comes up first when citizens talk about corruption in government. And yet it is a relatively small scandal – that is apart from the fact that the president had lied to Parliament on not being aware of what was being built at his homestead and the fact that he forced his party to lie for him and savage an institution of the Constitution, the public protector.
Zuma’s blatant interference with the criminal justice system is a much bigger scandal. It undermined one of the central pillars of our democracy and stability. In recent weeks it became clear that two other key state institutions have fallen victim to Zuma’s machinations – two institutions that have been functioning better than most other thus far: the South African Revenue Service (Sars) and the corruption-fighting Hawks unit.
Zuma appointed loyalist Tom Moyane as head of Sars in September after he had retired as head of Correctional Services. His record at that department wasn’t a good one. Under his leadership the department was rebuked several times by the auditor-general and Moyane was instrumental in the release on medical parole of former police commissioner Jackie Selebi who was supposed to be on his deathbed three years ago.
Moyane started a high-level purge of senior Sars officials. The State Security Agency had prepared the ground for him by planting false stories on the journalists of a leading newspaper, who published them without further investigation. Most of the information so published has now been discredited.
And last week the head of the Hawks, Anwar Dramat, was suspended, ostensibly because of the deportation of a Zimbabwean four years ago. The real reason was that he refused to hand over files on Nkandla, Northern Cape ANC leader John Block and other high-level corruption cases to the police commissioner. He was fired because he was doing his job. Dramat confirmed this in a letter to the minister, saying his investigations into the affairs of “influential persons” cost him his job.
It is Zuma Demolition Inc at work.
* This piece appeared first in the Pretoria News and is reproduced with the permission of Independent Media. Max du Preez is an author and  journalist.Â
Mind Boggling Opinion PieceÂ
From The Presidency
The Presidency is alarmed by the personal attack on President Jacob Zuma by Mr Max du Preez in an article that appeared in the Independent News titles today, which also contains factual errors.
Neither Independent Newspapers nor Mr du Preez have given the President or the Presidency an opportunity to respond to the serious allegations that are made in the piece which attack the person of the President. This failure to observe such a basic tenet of the journalism trade is disturbing as it is becoming a trend in some sections of the media.
Mr Du Preez blames the President for the recent suspensions of public servants, the SARS senior managers and recently a senior police official.  The institutions of government will, should it be deemed necessary, take action against certain public servants in certain instances. Such action normally forms part of internal disciplinary processes in government departments, which would have nothing to do with the President.  The knee jerk reaction of blaming the President for everything that happens in institutions without any attempt to verify the information indicates lazy and mischievous journalism. Opinion makers should undertake research and ensure that their commentary is based on facts and not spread rumours and gossip as Mr du Preez has done in his piece.
Mr du Preez also repeats a lie that Judge Hilary Squires corrected a few years ago. The Judge pointed out that he never said that President Zuma had a corrupt relationship with Mr Shabir Shaik. The phrase was created by the media and was repeated many times until many people began to believe it was true, flying in the face of fair and truthful reporting. It is mind boggling why Independent Newspapers and Mr du Preez decided to repeat this lie that has been corrected by the Judge before.
What is more disturbing is that the piece smacks of prejudice and racism given the manner in which Mr du Preez describes the President.
