The leader of South Africa’s dominant political party and the movement still electorally identified with the majority of the country’s people, is despite his dodgy ethics, remaking himself as a credible successor to Mbeki. More recently Zuma comes across as measured and “leader-like” in media interviews with non-South African, global, media. See for example his [...]
Archive for the ‘Jacob Zuma’ Category
Politricks: Jacob Zuma, bring me my machine gun.
Posted in Jacob Zuma, Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe, tagged Jacob Zuma, Mbeki, Robert Mugabe, South Africa, Zimbabwe on May 14, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The Zuma, Episode 1002
Posted in Jacob Zuma, South Africa, tagged Desmond Tutu, Jacob Zuma, South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, The Zuma on February 2, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Jacob Zuma was in Davos last week where he charmed corporate and government elites (‘… a man trying to project stability and seriousness’). Responding to a question by a reporter as to what he thought of former cleric and anti-apartheid campaigner Archbishop Desmond Tutu, warning ANC members against Zuma as ‘… someone of whom most [...]
Black Gold
Posted in Jacob Zuma, South Africa, tagged Algeria, China, economics, Egypt, Financial Times, gas, Nigeria, oil, Zuma on February 2, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Africa’s share of world oil production is currently around 12 percent. By 2012 that share will grow to approximately 30 percent. Nigeria (‘… from where the US expects to source up to a quarter of its oil imports in the next decade …’), Angola (the fastest growing oil producer on the continent), Algeria and Egypt, will get [...]
The Zuma Chronicles, #100
Posted in homophobia, Jacob Zuma, Leo Africanus, Matthews Phosa, Sean Jacobs, Zuma Chronicles on January 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I am starting a new series chronicling the sur- and hyper-reality around Jacob Zuma, the ethically challenged leader of South Africa’s ruling party and probably its next President. (For your information, general elections are scheduled for 2009 and the ANC holds an unassailable lead among the electorate; the current incumbent is Thabo Mbeki, a pretentious [...]
Politricks
Posted in Jacob Zuma, policies, South Africa on December 20, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Jacob Zuma is scheduled to make his first speech as ANC President today. My sense is he won’t say much that carries weight, except maybe congratulate himself and his ‘camp,’ play up unity within the party and make vague criticisms of Thabo Mbeki. But I could be wrong from where I sit. On the topic [...]
How radical is Jacob Zuma really?
Posted in Jacob Zuma, South Africa on December 19, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
The conventional wisdom on Jacob Zuma’s successful ‘campaign’ for the ANC presidency was that he is a radical. That he had strong support from the trade union and communist allies of the ANC was offered as prove. Now this comment from a story in this morning’s New York Times: One veteran analyst of South African [...]
‘It’s hard to stand up for the oppressed while riding in a limousine’
Posted in Jacob Zuma, post-1994 South Africa, profile, South Africa on December 19, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Chris McGreal in the UK Guardian on the bling of the new leadership of South Africa’s ruling party new leadership: Jacob Zuma crushed [Thabo Mbeki] by playing on the widespread sense of injustice among the poor, represented by ANC officials who arrived at the conference in old buses. That Zuma himself has a very big, [...]
Who is Jacob Zuma? What can we expect from him?
Posted in Jacob Zuma, profile, South Africa on December 18, 2007 | 2 Comments »
So I wrote yesterday that I won’t blog about the African National Congress’ conference ’till it’s over.’ Well, now that Jacob Zuma has soundly defeated Thabo Mbeki to become ANC President, the conference is effectively over. Unless Zuma goes to prison because of long-standing corruption charges (his legal team has used all kinds of delays [...]
Jacob Zuma’s Umshini Wam*
Posted in Jacob Zuma, National Conference, nationalism, Polokwane, post-1994 South Africa, postapartheid, South Africa on December 17, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
So South Africa’s African National Congress is meeting in Polokwane, the capital of Limpopo province till Thursday, December 20th, for its national conference. Not surprisingly policy differences are not dominating the conference, but rather the bitter public contest over who will lead the organization (after this conference) and the country (whoever becomes party president will [...]
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