7 March 2008
editorial
Johannesburg — SOUTH Africans are generally a hopeful bunch, for all their prejudices and hang-ups. Many things have gone obviously wrong in our young democracy, but across the spectrum what has always pulled us through is that there is a strong willingness to negotiate solutions.
There is a lesson in this for African National Congress (ANC) president Jacob Zuma, who has been on a charm offensive since he hit the campaign trail last year in his bid for the party presidency. In particular, he has sought to allay investors' concerns about SA's future. However, a dangerous and disturbing trend is emerging. It has become apparent that Zuma is tailoring his message to suit his audience -- and getting himself entangled in numerous webs as he does so.
This week he told businessmen at a Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry function that the Financial Mail had misquoted him when it wrote that he had called for reforms to the country's labour laws.
The article enraged labour federation Cosatu, a key ally , prompting an about-turn by Zuma. He claimed he was simply calling for debate on the issue.
Zuma has also suggested a review of the outlawing of the death penalty could be a possibility if enough people wanted it. But that is disingenuous. His own party and government have refused to even contemplate reopening the debate, and the Constitutional Court has already pronounced on the matter. It is not clear what Zuma stands for as he chops and changes his message.
While there is no question that a potential leader of SA should be consulting as many interest groups as he possibly can, pandering to various minorities by telling them what you think they want to hear can be a dangerous strategy in the long run. The goal should be to take the temperature of the country rather than try to be all things to all men and women.
It does not take a political genius to know that South Africans are feeling insecure and fearful for the future, and Zuma's inconsistency is not helping.
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