It is a feature of South African society that we have no shame. You only have to think of apartheid and its many apologists, Hansie Cronje and the match-fixing scandal and, now, Deputy President Jacob Zuma and the Schabir Shaik corruption trial.

These are a few examples where shame was, or has been, conspicuous by its absence.

This means, sadly, that we cannot count on shame to dissuade Zuma from his presidential bid. We must therefore reckon with the possibility of a Zuma presidency of the African National Congress (ANC) in 2007, and of SA in 2009, when President Thabo Mbeki's second term ends.

The Shaik trial has produced enough evidence to raise doubts about the suitability of Zuma for the job. This is, remember, a man who cannot live within his means or balance a chequebook, to mention the least controversial aspects of the evidence against him.

But South Africans do not do shame and none of this evidence is likely to sink Zuma's presidential ambitions. If anything, the Shaik trial has transformed him into a working-class martyr.

Notice how he has been regaling the union movement with tales about his lack of a formal education, and his background as a unionist. For its part, labour has been literally singing Zuma's praises and telling us that SA needs a leader who understands the plight of workers.

It is out of such sentiments that Zuma is building and consolidating his support base. It is also mainly through the trade unions that Zuma is projecting his presidential bid. The unions remain a potent force in South African politics, despite massive retrenchments and the ANC's go-it-alone attitude in government. That is why we cannot discount the possibility of a Zuma presidency.

What, then, could we expect from a President Zuma? More important, what can Zuma do to show he could lead this country?

He could start by demonstrating that he has the economic and political ideas to take SA forward. He could show he has the vision to unite this divided country, grow the economy and, by extension, create jobs. It would not do for him to parrot the ANC line.

Zuma and his supporters are fond of the argument that he is a consensus-builder and that only he could unite every sector of South African society — from the unions, traditional leaders and the ANC to business — behind a common vision for the future.

But does he have a vision at all? If he does, do we have to wait for the ANC to hear it first? Can Zuma build a broad alliance without pandering to the individual whims of each and every member of it?

The unions have not formally endorsed Zuma's presidential bid, but there is every reason to suspect they will do exactly that when they think the time is opportune. They would expect some sort of payback from Zuma. What would that be? Does Zuma see a future for the market economy in SA? If so, what sort of future? It is not unreasonable to ask that he begin to speak about his ideas. Would Zuma be enough of a leader to sometimes say no to his backers once in office?

As for his personal affairs, Zuma cannot be allowed simply to proceed as if nothing serious had come out of the Shaik trial. At the very least, he should acknowledge that he has trouble managing his money and we would want to see a group of eminent persons managing his wealth should he ever get the presidency.

We would, of course, prefer Zuma to explain or apologise for the mess his relationship with Shaik has brought upon our politics. He just has to tell his story in public so we can get the measure of the man. It is too easy otherwise to bury oneself in the machinery of the party and to parade oneself as its committed "servant".

It would be a shame if he could not speak openly to the nation.

With acknowledgement to the Business Day.