Zuma will turn SA into a 'Basket Case' [The Star, 2007-11-16]

Publication: The Star Issued: Date: 2007-11-16 Reporter: Reporter:

Zuma will turn SA into a 'Basket Case'

Publication	The Star
Date	2007-11-16
Web Link	www.thestar.co.za

President Thabo Mbeki wants to remain ANC leader because he believes that a Jacob Zuma presidency will turn South Africa into a "neo-colonial" African basket case, his biographer Mark Gevisser said on Thursday.

Speaking at the Cape Town Press Club, Gevisser said he did not believe that Mbeki "desperately" wanted to remain ANC leader, but rather that those around him feared a Zuma presidency.

Gevisser recently launched his new book, Thabo Mbeki: The Dream Deferred.

"I think he feels that his job is not done yet. I think that he and the people around him really do believe that a Zuma presidency will turn South Africa into yet another neo-colonial African basket case ... they have persuaded him that he is the thin blue between a successful future and a kind of a future that would confirm all the Afro-pessimism visions in the country."

Mbeki and Zuma are currently leading the succession race which will culminate in the election of a new ANC leadership at the December national conference in Limpopo.

Gevisser traced the source of the acrimonious relationship between Mbeki and the media, saying that it dated back to 1990 when Mbeki returned from exile.

Those - white businessmen and journalists - who had enjoyed "single-malt whisky" with Mbeki in exile had felt "betrayed *1" when he returned.

"A lot of those who were seduced by Mbeki felt dropped by him when he returned (to South Africa). He got home and had to deal with the black middle class. Maybe they felt betrayed," said Gevisser.

Mbeki equally felt "dropped" by the media who were warming up to his rival, Cyril Ramaphosa, who had replaced him as the main negotiator during the pre-democracy talks.

Around 1994, said Gevisser, Mbeki also felt that the "whiteowned media" was not giving the democratically elected government a chance.

Although Gevisser gave a copy of the book to Mbeki and his family two days prior to the launch, he had not received a response from Mbeki. "I haven't heard from the president and I don't think I will, but I have received a good response from the people close to him," he said.

* This article was originally published on page 4 of The Cape Times on November 16, 2007

With acknowledgements to The Star.

*1 Betrayed - am I missing something here?

The people who have been or feel they have been betrayed by Mbeki are, inter alia, the following :

those affected by HIV and AIDS and have died, are dying prematurely, or are orphans, or whose lives have been messed up;
taxpayers whose contributions have been wasted;
Zimbabweans whose country has been turned into a political and financial cesspool in 20 years without any neighbourly intervention;
South Africans whose country has been invaded by 8 million destitute Zimbabweans and other illegal aliens over the last 10 years;
South Africans whose country is being turned into a political and safety cesspool;
potential competitors of Thomson-CSF the latter who were guaranteed the supply contract for the Corvette Combat Suites and its sensors even before contract negotiations had commenced;
citizens who paid for and expected a honest Investigation Report into the Arms Deal only to be delivered a puddled of rancid porridge;
citizens who expected a Special Investigation Unit to be given a proclamation to investigate the Arms Deal as per the formal recommendation the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) and Advocates Frank Kahn SC and Jannie Lubbe SC;
Judge Willem Heath who was accused of, inter alia, touting for work and habouring distasteful organograms;
citizens who expected those against whom there is prima facie evidence of unlawful conduct in the Arms Deal to be prosecuted without fear of favour;
citizens who expected overseas investigators in the Arms Deal to be given in terms of the International Co-operation in Criminal Matters Act the assistance they sought as requested by means of their formal Mutual Letters of Assistance;
Tony Blair who was said to hold double standards in international Arms Deal investigations;
Advocate Vusi Pikoli who is languishing at home until at least January 2008 when his tribunal into his fitness for office as National Director of Public Prosecutions will commence;
Jacob Zuma who feels that some among us are conspiratorial against him;
Schabir Shaik whose brother Mo feels that there is a conspiracy against him;
The Fishers of Corrupt Men whose extensive fishing efforts have only been partially successful;
Fincantieri who thought they'd won a R5 billion (1998 Rands) submarine contract;
Bazan who thought after a fair competition they'd won a R3,5 billion (1995 Rands) frigate contract in 1995;
Bazan who again thought after a fair competition they'd won a R6,0 billion (1998 Rands) frigate contract in 1998;
Aermacchi who thought after a fair competition they'd won a R5,5 billion (1998 Rands) jet fighter trainer contract in 1998; and
local developers of parts of the Corvette Combat Suites only to find that Thomson-CSF had been guaranteed the supply contract for the Corvette Combat Suites even before contract negotiations had commenced and had been in secret meetings and consultations with some among us even a year before that.

This list is longer and wants to get longer.

But some of us having a living to earn.