Jacob Zuma’s ongoing feud with South Africa’s judiciary has taken a temporary pause, but his quest to exploit cracks in the system remains relentless. While his ally John Hlophe suffered a significant defeat in court, Zuma continues his maneuvering, using MK as a political shield and stirring unrest in KwaZulu-Natal. With growing tensions and whispers of militarization, Zuma’s defiance signals a troubling shift. At 82, his ambitions remain as fiery as ever.
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By Patrick McLaughlin*
Jacob Zuma’s current war with the South Africa judiciary is temporarily over – but only for a short while whilst he looks for new chinks in the GNU armour. With his close ally and deputy John Hlophe failing so dismally to return to Parliament’s Judicial Service Commission (JSC) after a blasting from the Western Cape High Court, there will be no doubt a short break for Christmas and the New Year, and then Zuma will be back as usual. He will want to recover from this set back.
Meanwhile not much has been lost in the Zuma camp itself. The opposition EFF remains a blunted weapon in terms of vote counting and, despite the lost court case, Hlophe is still walking the corridors of Parliament. The DA have the view, of course, that Hlophe should not be anywhere in Parliament at all.
Loathing
So how has it got so far that South Africa’s third largest party sits in Parliament with such individuals as former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe, former Prasa CEO Lucky Montana, former Transnet CEO Siyabonga Gama, and three-day finance minister Des van Rooyen? How are now these kind of persons allowed to represent the people of South Africa as MPs?
Zuma, as MK’s undisputed leader, sees himself as a future personal replacement of Ramaphosa and since he also cannot enter the parliamentary precinct at all for reasons of his criminality, Hlophe currently acts as on his behalf handling the cut and thrust of political life with Jimmy Manyi, MK’s chief whip. Meanwhile, Zuma at a different level, talks of “kingly” things such as cattle, traditional rights and more often than not is seen in some sort of leopard attire, dispensing grace.
Overriding all, is Zuma’s hatred of the judiciary. This has been built over the years of exercising his Stalingrad antics with the legal profession; his obvious distaste for Adv Billy Downer evident in the stop/start the arms trial, going for ten years now. No less contributory was the indignity over having to report at Estcourt Correctional Centre at six o clock in the morning, even if he arrived in a Mercedes convoy to serve his sentence. Also, the many brushes with Chief Justice Zondo must rankle and, finally, the laughter over his fight and loss of over the Nkandla fire pool for reasons of tax must sit with him.
All about me
Zuma once said sourly, “My experience is that many South African judges, including those of the Constitutional Court, can no longer bring an open mind to cases involving me.” With MK stating (which in reality is Zuma himself speaking) that one of its basic principles is that it doesn’t want the present Constitution as a founding document for South Africa, neither does it want any kind of “We the People” democracy, we could have deliberately ignored ourselves the standards we have set for any citizen.
So, the point has been reached as to whether we are going to do anything about it? Well, possibly not. Most sensible people are keen to keep the GNU alive but there might come a point……
Days of Munich
So, expect the Pontius Pilate approach from Zuma and stirring the trouble pot in KZN to get worse. In his home province, Zuma is clearly and deliberately militarising South Africa’s democracy. In Moses Mabhida Stadium recently, the audience roared back at Zuma when he announced he would ”Take back what is ours”. To his audience, MK is busy morphing into the paramilitary wing it once was in the wake of the Sharpeville massacre.
From the pictures taken, troops appear to be carrying unlicensed weapons, possible AKs, wearing camo uniforms with Soviet-style, stiff-legged marching, all to impress presumably his growing number of followers in KZN and his financiers, who are most likely Russians.
History repeating
In fact, right now we are at exactly at the same position, almost to exactitude, when the Browse Mole report came out in 2007 on Zuma’s involvement with Russia which was just before Scorpions tried to arrest him because of his unholy arrangements with the Guptas. Led now by the trio of Zuma, Hlohpe and Manyi, MK seems to be gathering about themselves once again a motley bunch of thieves and disgraced politicians ranging from Busiwe Mkhwebane to Floyd Shivambu, from Magashule to Molefe.
There can only be one answer to the sudden importation of so many from the State Capture files, also including Gigaba and many more. They probably see in Zuma a form of safety from the law, so much so that they feel protected. Zuma seems chose such as friends as a defiant gesture towards the judiciary.
Dinosaur era
Indeed, with the NPA now getting braver and distant sounds of a new Scorpions being heard, some political miscreants maybe feeling the cold. So, the one thing left is to join a political party which in turn might get rid of the judicial system entirely. This may account for the fact, circulating around the time that Floyd Shivambu joined the MK, that to get the “protection” of MK, a payment to Zuma somewhere in the region of R10,000 will apparently see you right.
It’s called a dictatorship
Zuma himself has stated that one of his constant irritations is that in order to gain power he is forced to submit himself to the electorate, whereas the judiciary are simply voted in by their own clan. Whilst this might have been an off-the-cuff comment caught in an interview, it represents how much Zuma is thinking of such matters, possibly even sleeping with his thoughts of vengeance.
Speaking in English in an interview recently, he warned that one should not be “provoked” by the judiciary and repeating this in Zulu, he said: “Abasazi singo bani” (They don’t know who we are). Those who know Zulu well, will endorse the view that this somewhat veiled and loaded expression, typical of Zuma’s powerful rhetoric, is not only a warning but a claim to power and a reminder of political and cultural strength.
And with Zuma at the ripe old age of 82, he might not want to wait until the 2026 local elections……..
Read also:
- 🔒 FT: DA “certain” that Jacob Zuma’s MK was funded by Russia; seeking proof
- Constitutional court bars Jacob Zuma from contesting parliamentary elections
- Jacob Zuma’s MK Party: Provocative rhetoric and few clear policies challenge ANC dominance
*Patrick McLaughlin: Editor, parlyreportsa
