Zuma saved us – Maharaj

The recently revealed transcripts of telephone conversations between Leonard McCarthy and Bulelani Ngcuka had uncovered an abuse of power and manipulation of State institutions that threatened democratic South Africa.

Speaking at a debate hosted by the Platform for Public Deliberation at the University of Johannesburg, African National Congress (ANC) stalwart Mac Maharaj delivered a paper entitled ‘Life under a Zuma Presidency: What Zuma saved us from and what we need to do to protect our institutions.' Citing a number of examples of warning signs hinting at the abuse of power in post apartheid South Africa, the struggle veteran stated that these abuses had been dismissed and ignored until now.
Maharaj explained that a clique of "kingmakers" had developed within the first five years of democratic South Africa, bent on "perpetuating power in politics and business".

For example, in April 2001, Steve Tshwete had announced an alleged conspiracy to overthrow the then President Thabo Mbeki. The three alleged conspirators, who were committed ANC members, had had to publicly deny that they harboured any presidential ambitions. When Jacob Zuma, then the deputy president of the ANC, followed suit, denying that he wanted to become President, Mbeki had cemented his hold on power.
In this case and others, Maharaj asserted, the State had rushed to the media rather than holding further investigations into the allegations. These revelations were received in the public arena with scepticism, said Maharaj, as the public was not ready to question the State.

Similarly, with investigations undertaken by the Scorpions, there were many leaks to the media. Maharaj explained that because those people fingered by the investigative unit had not yet been legally charged, they had to answer to the allegations in the public media. A trial by media was viewed, said Maharaj, with "a sense of righteousness and justification". Thus, the untried allegations were kept alive.
The accusations of corruption by Zuma were treated in this way, said Maharaj. McCarthy's and Ngcuka's transcripts were evidence of this.

If a man was tried and found guilty, Maharaj explained, then he would disappear into prison. But by keeping an accused man in the public eye, he would be publicly judged, publicly shamed and would never be able to gain employment after his downfall. To make or break a man; this was the power wielded by these men in positions of authority.
The timing of the charges against Zuma was a political consideration, said the struggle veteran, and never a decision based on the merits of the case. This abuse of power was a threat to democratic South Africa, he stated. It was only through the convictions of the ANC and the tenacity of Zuma himself that the exposure of this abuse of power was brought to light.

Revelations of such abuses, and consequently the future of our democracy, could not be left to such a "fortuitous conjunction of events", said Maharaj. When asked by a member of the audience how this abuse of power had come about, Maharaj explained that those involved in the struggle for freedom had become so proud of democratic South Africa's institutions, that any criticism of these foundations was seen as an attempt to undermine South Africa's democracy. This was why the public had not been prepared to question any revelations of mismanagement in the first decade of democracy in South Africa.

Maharaj explained that the ANC had conflated being on the side of the right institutions and the right individuals. It should not have happened that way, he said. The ANC should have remained on the side of what was right and just, not stood behind individuals that could have abused their power. This was why Zuma would be confronted with the necessity to act in a markedly different way, said Maharaj. His actions must restore confidence in State institutions.

Source: Polity