South African President Jacob Zuma has reverted into charm mode, easily the best of his chameleon qualities. That will tell anyone who has followed the man’s career that he is worried. Very worried. After a humiliating few days Zuma is trying hard to rationalise his super fast caving-in to student protestors – and reluctance to take the podium to address them. Their cause is just, they were courageous, and there were stones being thrown, Zuma told two Bloomberg journalists who met with him yesterday. SA’s President has belatedly come to the realisation that the economy has stalled, but still says it will be possible to provide free higher education for all. And unlike his predecessor Thabo Mbeki, who was staunchly opposed against such acts, Zuma excuses other African Presidents currently changing their constitutions to extend their sometimes already decades long stay in power. Bloomberg generated three reports from the interview which we have combined for your convenience. The one and a half thousand or so words make interesting reading. But they also illustrate how the SA President is devoid of ideas. There is a notable absence of a plan, any plan, to address the woes Zuma’s Administration has visited upon the nation. But that tends to happen when you paint yourself into an idealogical corner. – Alec Hogg  Â
By Franz Wild and Amogelang Mbatha
(Bloomberg) — South Africa faces a âserious struggleâ to meet its plan to cut unemployment and boost growth because of the global slowdown, President Jacob Zuma said in his frankest admission about the state of the economy.
âYou canât say when the economy is not growing that your original plans will be implemented as they were,â Zuma, 73, said in an interview Tuesday in Pretoria, the capital. âThere will be an impact, which will mean that in terms of how we meet them, it is going to be a serious struggle.â
South Africaâs unemployment rate rose to 25.5 percent in the third quarter from 25.1 percent in the previous three months, the statistics agency said Tuesday. Africaâs second- largest economy is struggling to create enough jobs at the same time that falling metal prices force mining companies such as Anglo American Platinum Ltd. to consider firing workers.
Read also:Â Cees Bruggemans: What if Zuma refuses to go?
Running Battles
Zuma spoke at his residence near the Union Buildings where four days ago thousands of demonstrators called for a freeze on university tuition, capping more than a week of protests by the students that were the biggest since the end of apartheid. The unrest provoked running battles between the police using stun grenades and protesters outside Parliament in Cape Town and in Pretoria. On Friday, Zuma bowed to their demand.
âIt was clear that if we did not have a solution the demonstrations would have gone further,â Zuma said. âThey were very courageous.â
The protests werenât a sign of deepening discontent with the ruling African National Congress, Zuma said, and were instead part of demands by young South Africans to ensure that black people gain equal access to an economy still dominated by whites.
Facing Stones
The #FeesMustFall Twitter campaign was fueled by rising student costs, including fees, housing, food and textbooks that can exceed 100,000 rand ($7,300) a year. First-year tuition alone at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, where the protests started, ranges from about 32,000 rand to more than 58,000 rand.
At the Oct. 23 protest at the Union Buildings, Zuma said he observed students throwing stones at police and âinterferingâ with a podium set up for him, before deciding against coming out to address the protesters directly.
âThere was anxiety because the behavior of the students outside was quite something,â he said. âI didnât think it was prudent to go and just meet the stones or whatever and therefore move away from the important issue of addressing the cause of the protests of the students.â
The student protests have rattled investors, with the rand slipping 4.3 percent against the dollar since the start of last week, the most of 16 major currencies monitored by Bloomberg.
Rand Attack
âOur currency is in a sense being attacked by the global situation and we are trying to handle it from that angle,â Zuma said. âSouth Africa remains a destination for investment. I think we have everything it takes for investors to come here, and their investments are secured.â
Read also:Â SARB Governor Kganyago: We wonât defend the Rand, itâs pointless
âYou canât have a flourishing budget when the economy is in trouble,â Zuma said. âWe need to have projects that generate employment even under the very distressed situation, but we can no longer say as we put these, we will indeed achieve them as we thought.â
On Tuesday, more than 10,000 people took part in a march by the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters to the stock exchange, the central bankâs Johannesburg branch and the Chamber of Mines to demand interest-rate cuts, minimum wages for miners and a more equitable distribution of the countryâs wealth.
Two years before the next ANC leadership contest, Zuma declined to confirm comments that he made to the Johannesburg- based Mail & Guardian newspaper this month that he wonât stand for a third term as the partyâs leader. While the constitution limits a president to two terms, the ANC has no restriction.
âWe donât act as individuals; the ANC guides us,â he said. âAt this time, that is not an issue. When the time comes the ANC will direct us.â
SA shouldn’t change constitution Â
South Africa shouldnât change its constitution to enable a sitting president to stand for a third term in office, President Jacob Zuma said.
âWe are very clear about the two terms,â he said in an interview at his residence in the capital, Pretoria, on Tuesday. âThe issue does not arise at all. I think it is very healthy for us here in South Africa that we donât stay forever.â
The ruling African National Congress has governed South Africa since the end of white-minority rule in 1994. The party, which won 62 percent of the vote in national elections last year is due to elect a successor to Zuma, 73, in two years time. While the South African constitution restricts the number of terms the countryâs president can serve, the ANCâs rules have no limits for the party leader.
The leading candidates to take over from Zuma are the ANCâs deputy leader and national deputy president, Cyril Ramaphosa, and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the chairwoman of the African Union Commission and the presidentâs ex-wife. Others include party chairwoman Baleka Mbete and treasurer Zweli Mkhize.
Zuma said that while the limitation on presidential terms has been widely accepted as a general idea to introduce democracy in Africa, the extension of those terms is acceptable when done through democratic processes.
âCountries move the way they want,â he said. âThere are countries recently that have gone to a referendum, the people have said: âwe still want this man, we think this man is still useful.â Its a democratic decision that is taken.â
Read also:Â President seeks 3rd term: Congo holding âreferendumâ to change constitution
The Republic of Congo voted this month to change its constitution, allowing President Denis Sassou-Nguesso to run for a third successive term in a referendum disputed by opposition parties. Burundiâs leader, Pierre Nkurunziza, won a third term in July elections despite the opposition saying that it was a breach of the constitution. Rwanda is planning a referendum on whether to change its law to allow Paul Kagame to contest elections again.
Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore was forced out of office last year after protests against an attempt to change the nationâs constitution to allow him to extend his 27-year rule.
âTo change the constitution, that has been a problem because once you have got a constitution and an understanding, you need to implement it,â Zuma said. âWe should not, as presidents, turn against those decisions and the constitution. Thatâs what we think is not acceptable.â
Free education is possible
South Africaâs President Jacob Zuma said free university education is possible, four days after he acceded to demands of students to freeze fee levels for next year following nationwide protests.
âItâs possible, but itâs not a question you can do overnight,â Zuma, 73, said on Tuesday in an interview at his residence in Pretoria. âYouâve got to be able to have the resources.â
Read also:Â Matthew Lester: Bladeâs failed intervention. Education money is available.
Thousands of students demonstrated across the nation for almost two weeks, leading to clashes with riot police at Parliament in Cape Town and at the governmentâs offices in the capital. After meeting with student and university leaders on Oct. 23, Zuma agreed to leave tuition unchanged and promised to investigate wider issues preventing poor people from accessing tertiary education.
âIt was clear that if we did not have a solution the demonstrations would have gone further,â Zuma said in his first interview since the fees announcement. âThey were very courageous. I sympathize with them. I know that the cost of education in South Africa is very high.â
The concession means the state and universities must find an additional 2.6 billion rand ($190 million) at a time when the economy is close to a recession and at risk of a credit-rating downgrade.
The #FeesMustFall Twitter campaign was fueled by rising student costs, including fees, housing, food and textbooks that can exceed 100,000 rand ($7,300) a year. First-year tuition alone at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, where the protests started, ranges from about 32,000 rand to more than 58,000 rand.
Read also:Â Wits University to seek new model, suspends 10% fee increase after protests
Stun Grenades
Since the end of apartheid, student enrollment at South Africaâs universities has doubled to about 1 million, 72 percent of whom are black, according to Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande. The government wants that number to rise to 1.6 million by 2030, and has opened three new universities since the start of last year.
Zuma said he decided not to meet the students, snubbing their demands, outside his Union Buildings offices after seeing them battle with police, who used stun grenades and water cannons on the demonstrators who were throwing stones and building fires on the buildings lawns.
âThere was anxiety because the behavior of the students outside was quite something,â Zuma said. âI donât think it was therefore prudent to just go and meet the stones and therefore move away from the important issue of addressing the cause of the protests.â
The demonstrations were not a sign of widening discontent with the government of the ruling African National Congress, Zuma said. âSome forces are using the student issues to create a particular atmosphere,â he said.
Students posted criticism of Zuma and the ANC on Twitter during the demonstrations, saying that they had been promised free education in 1994 when South Africa held its first all-race elections. Some said the ANC would be punished in elections scheduled for 2019.
The demonstrations were part of a push by mostly black students to ensure equal access to an economy still dominated by whites, Zuma said. The University of Cape Town in April removed a statue of Cecil John Rhodes, who funded campaigns to colonize parts of southern Africa, from its campus after students decried the presence of symbols of black oppression.
Zuma was sworn in for a second term as head of state after the ANC won elections last year. The party will decide on its leader in 2017, a post for which he would be able to stand for a third time even though he could not serve as head of state. He declined to confirm remarks made to the Johannesburg-based Mail & Guardian newspaper this month, in which he said he would not seek a third ANC term.
âEven the president has no right to take his own decision,â Zuma said. âWe donât act as individuals, the ANC guides us. To begin to raise a debate about it now does not help the ANC. The ANC must take its time, it has its own processes wherein that matter will become clearer.â
