A dark cloud
Until recently Thabo Mbeki was the president of South Africa. He had been so for almost a decade, ever since he took over from Nelson Mandela as both the president of the ruling African National Congress party and president of the country.
He took his first knock when he lost presidency of the ANC to Jacob Zuma, the very man he fired as Vice President some years back over his alleged involvement in a massive arms deal scandal. That involvement is something that has still to be heard in a court of law. It was finally meant to be get under way last month after several delays only to be dismissed by a judge on a technicality. Part of which was that Mbeki himself has meddled in the proceedings.
The Zuma camp has consistently claimed that the charges of corruption have been a plot orchestrated by the Mbeki camp to keep him from becoming the next president. When the judge uttered the words that Mbeki had been inappropriately involved in the proceedings of the case their suspicions were neatly confirmed. In a matter of days Mbeki was shown the door.
Mbeki’s recall was followed by half his cabinet and various regional premiers however. Even the vice president quit. Naturally this left sudden wake of leadership. What would happen next? It was as if the country was holding its breath. A new “care-taker” president was quickly introduced to the nation. A man no one outside of politics had heard of. Kgalema Motlanthe. How do even say that?
Motlanthe made an impressive debut though. He came across calm and collected - just the thing to ease the frazzled nerves of millions of South Africans. His first big move was to get rid of some of the most incompetent ministers including the widely detested minister of health, “Dr. Beetroot” so called for her stalling on procuring anti-retroviral drugs at the cost of millions of lives insisting that a basic diet was sufficient treatment. He also put a lid on the leader of the ANC Youth League, whose lack of even a high school education clearly comes across in his belligerent rhetoric and mob like antics.
All in all Motlanthe has rapidly met the approval of both blacks and whites in South Africa, and as the dust begins to settle it seems that South Africa might be alright after all. If Motlanthe could stay on as president there is a ray of hope for the country. Unfortunately there are seldom happy endings in African politics.
It is far more likely that Zuma will never have to face trial and will become the next president of South Africa by hook or by crook. He will be sworn in dancing like a fool singing his trademark “Umshini Wam” war cry, “Bring me my machine gun” from the bygone days of the liberation struggle. He’ll probably stay in power for years and the country will prosper just like the rest of Africa has.
Motlanthe will probably fade back into the obscurity he only recently emerged from and as for Mbeki, he will almost certainly lose the tentative sway he had on negotiating a settlement in Zimbabwe. The best thing he could do, I suppose, would be to start a splinter party from the ANC, hopefully creating a viable, much needed opposition party thereby. Then again, considering that he has a pension of 100% of his salary as president he might just want to enjoy his spoils in the comfort of his brand new house.
South Africa is such a beautiful land, the people are great and sun makes everything shine. It is just a pity about the “comrades” in power like who have no skills beyond being at war with something. People like Jacob Zuma are like a single dark cloud in an otherwise bright blue sky, but it blots out all the rest for me I am afraid.
