JACOB Zuma is by most accounts a useless manager: disinterested, hands-off, clueless and hopeless.

He was pretty out of his depth as Cyril Ramaphosa’s deputy when Ramaphosa was secretary-general of the African National Congress (ANC) in the early 1990s; he was crap as the ANC’s counter- intelligence chief; he was a lousy economic affairs MEC in KwaZ ulu-Natal, with nothing to show for his short tenure except his embarrassing shake-downs of one Schabir Shaik for petty cash and suchlike; and he was all title and no chief when he was the ANC’s intelligence boss.

One former ANC soldier who worked in ANC intelligence when Zuma was its nominal head says Zuma was nothing more than a dowdy figurehead, all smiles, backslapping and no real strategic input. However, none of this means the man should not be held accountable for ANC excesses ­ and there were many ­ that happened under his watch.

People were arrested for the most spurious of reasons by ANC intelligence ­ for having a “refined” accent, for asking too many questions, for having a girlfriend that a commander had designs on, for daring to challenge whatever passed for orthodoxy in exile at any given time and for being, goodness forbid, contrarian.

Some of these things happened under Zuma’s watch . Zuma must, if he is half the leader some claim he is, be leader enough to accept responsibility for what happened when he was ANC intelligence chief. It would be dishonest, if not worse, to pretend the man bears no responsibility whatsoever and to dismiss calls for him to account as nothing but smears.

I covered the truth commission hearings at which the case of Thami Zulu, perhaps the most celebrated case of a person for whose death Zuma must, but has yet to, account. Zulu was an ANC military commander who was arrested by ANC security officials for allegedly being an apartheid spy. The case against Zulu was never proven by ANC security officials, and his detention and maltreatment in ANC custody came despite objections from senior ANC leaders ­ except Zuma, who may in fact have ordered Zulu’s arrest. Zulu was eventually released from detention, but was poisoned and killed shortly after his release.

Zulu was no angel. A person who worked with him in the ANC underground in the frontline states says Zulu was not above fiddling with his ANC “expense claims”. He bought a stolen car from SA for use in ANC missions for R10000 but claimed R20000 from the ANC for the purchase. Zulu was not unique in this respect. This was a fairly widespread practice in the ANC underground and is documented by Raymond Suttner in his book on the ANC underground.

But Zulu was a loyal, fearless and dedicated ANC soldier. People who worked with him always talk about his courage. His parents, who were both teachers from Soweto, were not perfect people, either. I remember thinking them too proud for comfort when I met them during their appearance before the truth commission at Regina Mundi church in the mid-1990s. I will never forget Zulu’s mother boasting about how the family gave Zulu the best wedding ever in the ANC when he got married in Mozambique. If I remember correctly, the mother said the alcohol served at the wedding was bought in SA.

But they were parents before they were proud, and they wanted to know what happened to their beloved son. They wanted answers from Zuma, especially. Their pain was real enough, as was their desire to find out what had happened to Zulu.

The father went to Shell House, then the ANC’s headquarters in downtown Johannesburg, countless times in search of answers but was either rebuffed or sent from pillar to post. He might have even met Zuma and got the trademark dowdy smile. As for answers, he got nothing. Unfortunately, I have not kept in touch with Zulu’s family so I do not know what became of their quest for the truth.

Over the years, Zuma has responded to questions about Zulu’s fate with that silly trademark smile of his. The man set to become SA’s next president has offered a similar reaction to general questions about his time as ANC intelligence chief. Zuma has been known to laugh his way out of uncomfortable questions. But that is not good enough. South African taxpayers, already paying for his harem and security, deserve more than that goofy smile.

It is easy but also lazy thinking to dismiss questions about what Zuma knows about ANC excesses in exile as some ill-defined conspiracy to stop him from becoming president. The ANC will win next month’s election.

A former ANC comrade and fellow activist said to me upon hearing about my profound distaste for Zuma, “Just ignore the face and focus on the organisation.” I don’t know if I can do that. But there are millions of people who can and will ignore Zuma’s face on the ANC ticket and vote for the organisation anyway. These are the voters who will see to it the ANC stays in power.

The Zulu case is not the excuse I have been waiting for not to vote Zuma. The ANC president’s legendary uselessness is enough reason for me not to vote for him. But Zuma is presenting himself as a tried and tested leader of the ANC, a man of the people who feels everybody’s pain. Well, it’s time he felt the pain of Zulu’s family and told them and the country what happened to their son.

With acknowledgements to Business Day.