UNDER FIRE: President Jacob Zuma will deliver his state of the nation address in Cape Town tonight
President Jacob Zuma has his back to the wall. Facing a backlash for leading the nation from one scandal to another, the president will tonight attempt to convince South Africans that all is well. Politics reporter Rochelle de Kock spoke to political analysts Mcebisi Ndlenyana and Joleen Steyn- Kotze about Zuma’s biggest headaches
NKANDLAGATE
FOLLOWING a dramatic climb down on Nkandla, Ndletyana believes Zuma’s credibility is at an all-time low.
“Credibility was never his strong point,” Ndletyana said.
“He assumed his position under a lot of suspicion – there was the rape issue [for which he was later acquitted], he fired the Scorpions, and there were the corruption charges.
“This all meant that he never had moral authority. However, with this Nkandla scandal he can never come back . . . especially so soon after the [Nhlanhla] Nene debacle.
“The country was in the middle of a financial crisis and he fired a minister who was doing all the right things . . . and put in someone no one knew.”
In defying the public protector, he had believed he was untouchable.
Steyn-Kotze believes Zuma will not even mention Nkandla tonight.
“He may not engage on this as we may find that he feels he has offered to pay restitution and as such [for him] the matter is closed,” she said.
“The broader issue of course is the disregard for process, procedure and institutions that seek to hold politicians accountable for their actions.”
With public opinion of him seemingly low, he “may well steer clear of controversial issues”, she said.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS- NELSON MANDELA BAY
LAST year, Zuma disbanded the ANC’s Nelson Mandela Bay regional executive and replaced the municipal leadership with reputable politicians headed by mayor Danny Jordaan.
Ndletyana believed Zuma’s intervention was “one of the few good things he’s done” as president. “Nothing good was going on . . . bringing Danny Jordaan [in] was a good move because [Zuma] needed someone with credibility, ” he said.
“[Jordaan] has been cleaning up . . . the ANC is likely to [win by] the biggest margin [yet] in this election.
“However, the issues in the party itself are beyond Zuma’s immediate control . . . no one trusts [anyone else] – they would rather not have anyone because they don’t want any faction in charge,” Ndletyana said.
Steyn-Kotze believed northern areas residents felt marginalised, while township voters were disillusioned –which could play into the hands of opposition parties.
“I think the ANC will need to campaign hard to convince the voter that they need another chance in the metro,” she said.
“This does not necessarily mean a victory for the DA.
“As much as communities are disillusioned with the ANC, there is also a mistrust of the DA in the metro. “The DA will need to work hard to convince people, especially in ANC strongholds, to vote for them.
“There are a number of other role players to consider: the EFF, the UDM and the United Front , ” Steyn-Kotze said.
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