Duped by Zuma

11/18/22 • 37 min

At the height of former Jacob Zuma’s popularity towards his ANC presidency, his most loyal support came from the tripartite alliance. The South African Communist Party (SACP) as well as the trade union federation Cosatu were eager to finally have their “Lula” moment.

Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva became a symbol for craving for change in the leftist movements. The popular Brazilian politician and trade unionist during his time as president from 2003 to 2010, instituted key social and economic reforms that saw Brazil become the world’s eighth-largest economy and more than 20-million people rise out of acute poverty.

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For Cosatu and the SACP’s leadership, Zuma presented an escape from former president Thabo Mbeki’s liberal and capitalist policies which the alliance partners condemned.

Court case after another, the SACP’s Blade Nzimande and Cosatu’s Zwelinzima Vavi stood behind Zuma, in the hope that he would usher in more socialist driven economic reforms.

Needless to say that the marriage between the alliance and the Zuma regime quickly took a turn for the worse.

According to Vavi, he realised that Zuma was a dream deferred when Zuma in his state visit in Europe assured the West that nothing would change.

“We needed a hero,” Vavi contends in retrospect, adding that they needed someone with enough guts to challenge the Mbeki presidency.

“At no stage did, now speaking from the benefit of hindsight, did president Zuma ever really stand on a platform and articulate a left leaning program of alternative to the growth, employment and redistribution (Gear), never ever,” he said.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party consistently accused their ruling partner of deviating from the party’s socialist reform agenda, the RDP, in favour of Gear. Economic differences underpinned an unprecedented public row between the allies.

While Zuma presented a turnaround for the left, Zuma failed to deliver.

In this week’s podcast Vavi together with veteran journalist Paddy Harper and Mail & Guardian editor Ron Derby take a look back on what led to the breakdown in relations between the Zuma regime and the left.

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You’ll find previous episodes here.

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For Cosatu and the SACP’s leadership, Zuma presented an escape from former president Thabo Mbeki’s liberal and capitalist policies which the alliance partners condemned.

Court case after another, the SACP’s Blade Nzimande and Cosatu’s Zwelinzima Vavi stood behind Zuma, in the hope that he would usher in more socialist driven economic reforms.

Needless to say that the marriage between the alliance and the Zuma regime quickly took a turn for the worse.

According to Vavi, he realised that Zuma was a dream deferred when Zuma in his state visit in Europe assured the West that nothing would change.

“We needed a hero,” Vavi contends in retrospect, adding that they needed someone with enough guts to challenge the Mbeki presidency.

While Zuma presented a turnaround for the left, Zuma failed to deliver.

Don’t forget to leave us a thumbs up when you’re done listening.

You’ll find previous episodes here.

Previous Episode

How South Africa, ANC changed in the years of Jacob Zuma

In the second of the Mail & Guardian’s six-part podcast series on the story of the ANC after the Polokwane conference of 2007, we focus on the changes that came after the election of Jacob Zuma.

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After he came into power, the functioning of state and the party would change quite significantly, but it was a slow start as he sought to assure markets that not too much would change to a South African story that was a darling amongst emerging market investors.

In this podcast produced by Mziwamaqithi Mzinzi, Editor-in-Chief Ron Derby, is joined once again by Paddy Harper who chat to Ronald Lamola, Minister of Justice and Correctional Services – who is gunning for a top six position in the party’s elective conference in December.

Don’t forget to leave us a thumbs up when you’re done listening.

You’ll find previous episodes here.

Next Episode

The New Dawn

All eyes will be on the ANC national conference to take place at Nasrec in December that will determine the future of the country and the governing party.

In less than 50 days, the ANC will decide whether Cyril Ramaphosa should return for a second term as president. Many South Africans will also be interested in who emerges as his deputy and what the ANC decides as its policy direction going into the 2024 general elections.

The ANC is walking a tightrope. For the first time since entering the election space in 1994, the party dipped below 50% in the 2021 local government elections, losing all the Gauteng metros as well as key municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal.

The party has also had to contend with rising unemployment, corruption and an economic crisis that continues to put pressure on South African households.

As part of its coverage for this year’s conference, the Mail & Guardian took a journey through time to focus on defining moments that led to the party’s current standing.

In this episode, we chat about the issue of the ‘new dawn’, and whether it really exists, and where it will lead us to. Our veteran journalist Paddy Harper hosts this episode with the editor-in-chief of the Mail & Guardian Ron Derby in conversation with professor Mcebisi Ndletyana.

Don’t forget to leave us a thumbs up when you’re done listening.

You’ll find previous episodes here.