Publication: Cape Argus Issued: Date: 2006-07-10 Reporter: Jovial Rantao Reporter:

Zuma's Lawsuits are Designed to Cow the Media into Silence

 

Publication 

Cape Argus

Date

2006-07-10

Reporter

 Jovial Rantao

Web Link

www.capeargus.co.za

 

The plethora of lawsuits issued against the media by former deputy president Jacob Zuma forms part of an elaborate and desperate plan to pave the way for his ascension to the presidency.

It is also, in part, a desperate attempt to stop criticism of himself, his morals, leadership qualities and the people that he surrounds himself with. They are designed to cow the media into silence.

It is, simply put, a scare tactic, decorated with many zeros at the end, dispatched on fancy lawyers' letterheads and delivered, in our case, by a man in a nondescript navy-blue suit.

The depth of Zuma's desperation is sufficiently demonstrated by his choice of lawyers.

He has in his corner now a man who, at one point in his life, was a proponent of apartheid and stood against the unbanning of the ANC and the release of political prisoners.

Among these prisoners was one Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma.

The legal action is also designed to cement Zuma's portrayal of himself as a victim. From the day he was charged with fraud and corruption, Zuma has said that he has been badly treated. He portrays himself as a victim of:
This portrayal is designed to send the message that Zuma has done nothing wrong, is fit to be president and that there is a propaganda war out there to say the opposite.

The question then arises, if he is so fit, so confident and so capable, what has he got to hide?

Why go all-out to intimidate the media? Is he not confident that his good qualities will stand the test?

Anyway, it does not really matter whether the lawsuits are viable or not. Their purpose is to add a few more building blocks on the big project.

That project is that Jacob Zuma is fit and ready to become the third president of a free South Africa.

And that there are people out there, some of them powerful people such as the president, who are out to make sure that he does not make it.

This is part of a major rescue operation of a man whose image has been seriously dented by the findings of at least two high court judges.

The first was Judge Hilary Squires, who found Zuma enjoyed a "generally corrupt relationship" with convicted fraudster and businessman Schabir Shaik.

The second judge was Willem van der Merwe, who acquitted Zuma on a charge of rape but rapped him over the knuckles for his inability to control his sexual appetite.

The Zuma rescue operation started the day after he was found not guilty of rape by the Johannesburg High Court.

On that day, everything from the way he spoke, his mannerisms and tone said that this was a man preparing for higher office.

There was no "give me my machine gun" rhetoric. Here was a man who stood before the nation and said that he had made an error of judgment - having unprotected sex with an HIV-positive woman - and apologised.

Another interesting aspect of the resurrection of President-wannabe Zuma is the resurfacing of allegations, out of Germany this time, that Mbeki's hands may not be clean as far as the arms deal is concerned.

I think that the revelation of the name of the author of a letter that got the German prosecutors to start an investigation will make for interesting reading. It is an intriguing part of the puzzle.

These particular allegations are so serious as to damage the legacy of Mbeki's presidency.

He needs to answer sooner rather than later. Perhaps these are plans to cast aspersions on Mbeki's integrity and to indicate that there are people whose wish it is to see him in the dock *1, for whatever reason.

All of this forms part of a well thought out plan as the country builds up to two crucial ANC gatherings. One is the organisation's forthcoming policy conference, where the lobbying for a place in the next leadership will intensify.

The next will be the ANC conference in 2007, which will elect the new leadership that will drive this country well into its third decade of freedom.

Whatever the outcome, at least the media in this country now knows what kind of future they would have under the rule of President Jacob Zuma.

Jovial Rantao is the deputy editor of The Star newspaper in Johannesburg.

With acknowledgements to Jovial Rantao and Cape Argus.


*1      Never thought of having anything in common with this aspirant.