Is everybody missing the point with the latest twist in this Zuma corruption charge saga?
The mainstream media are so obsessed with whether or not the National Prosecuting Authority is going to abandon the prosecution and whether or not Thabo Mbeki is now being implicated in some arms deal crookery that some important facts are being forgotten, namely the nature of the charges at the heart of this thing.
The main one is that the Constitutional Court confirmed as a fact that Schabir Shaik paid Jacob Zuma a bribe and that “Mr Zuma did as a matter of fact promote Mr Shaik’s interests”.
This point is underlined in an excellent and comprehensive post on Constitutionally Speaking which really gets into the nitty gritty of this affair.
I think this is the best analysis of the Zuma saga going at the moment and is a must read. A sample:
In terms of the substantive criminal law (as opposed to issues surrounding a fair trial), the only question that could possible lead to an acquittal of Mr Zuma is if he could somehow show that he received this money and then assisted Shaik to secure contracts in the arms deal, but that he did so without the intention of being corrupt. He will therefore have to argue that he was so naive or so spectacularly stupid that he did not realise that there was a link between all this money he received and the favours he then did for the man he received the money from.
The Sunday Times also offers this useful reference piece in recapping the detail of the charges.
In fact, I think, the web in SA is offering new dimensions in understanding this story. Even ordinary folk are offering fascinating insights, like this letter by Themba Mbatha, a News24 user, which refers to Zuma becoming a “supercitizen”. It’s well worth a read.
Social networks are offering an interesting side to this as well. Facebook’s Help us stop Jacob Zuma from becoming South Africas next President group has aleady got nearly 70 000 members and another group I bet I can find 1,000,000 South Africans that dont want JZ to be president has pulled in nearly 80 000 people in the blink of an eye. Amazing… Facebook has created a significant constituency and given ordinary joes a platform to vent their frustration over this affair.
What will be interesting to see though is whether the medium which helped Americans to say “Yes We Can” in electing Obama will have any impact in South Africans saying “No We Can’t” in rejecting Zuma.
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March 23rd, 2009 at 8:17 am
It would be wonderful to see JZ face charges in court, however it seems to me that this case is going to drag on for years. JZ’s lawyers will keep postponing and fighting on every little technicality possible.
The honourable thing to do would have been to step down as president of the ANC until the matter was finalised.
That said: There is no doubt that the ANC will win the election and JZ will become president. Perhaps it would be better to have a president serve his term in office without having to spend much of his time in court. For that reason alone I wonder if it is not better to drop the charges ( or at least postpone the case until he has served his term as president)?
March 23rd, 2009 at 9:21 am
Provocative comment, Graeme. You’re right about the ANC pressing ahead with Zuma for the elections, no matter that his credibility is severely dented. Though for me, the issue of him spending time in court at expense of serving the country as president is less worrying than my belief that he is clearly unfit to serve the county. My guess is that Tokyo Sexwale is waiting to swoop in as ANC president if Zuma does get convicted for these racketeering and corruption charges or when more dirt on him surfaces — and it will eventually — and he finally gets impeached.
April 14th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
Good site, admin.