Jacob Zuma on course for second term NOV 11, 2010 | IDO LEKOTA | Unlike Thabo Mbeki, President Zuma brings his enemies closer
IT IS often said politics is a game of possibilities and intrigue. This aphorism played itself out this week after the announcement by the special investigation unit that President Jacob Zuma had authorised its investigation into cases of allegations of corruption and mismanagement in the Tshwane and Ekurhuleni metros. On Tuesday the ANCYL in both regions came out in support of the move, saying such an investigation would "hopefully assist in stopping the cancer of corruption". The same day the ANCYL in Northern Cape expressed its ire about the goings-on in the alleged corruption case of ANC provincial chairperson John Block. Block, Intaka Tech chief executive officer Gaston Savoi and seven others have been charged with fraud, corruption, money laundering and contravening the Public Finance Management Act. The charges against them relate to tenders awarded for water purification equipment for the provincial department of health amounting to R42million. The ANCYL accused NPA head Menzi Simelane - who is personally handling the prosecution in Block's case - of being "a rented dog that is being used to settle political scores". Essentially the ANCYL in Northern Cape is accusing the NPA of being used by the powers that be in government (read Zuma) to settle political squabbles within the ANC. This is the accusation previously made by the ANC against former president Thabo Mbeki. The league accused the NPA of being used by Mbeki to persecute Zuma, thereby excluding him from the ANC leadership race in 2007. The claim became part of the ammunition used at the ANC Polokwane elective conference to get rid of Mbeki. The new murmurings are that the targets in the Tshwane and Ekurhuleni investigations is Gauteng chairperson Paul Mashatile and his supporters. These individuals are known not to be Zuma supporters. So Zuma is digging some dirt on them in the regions where they were operating and had support. He will then use this dirt against them come 2012 when he contests for a second term as president of the ANC and the country. He's doing exactly what his supporters accused Mbeki of: using state agencies to deal with his political rivals. But he, unlike Mbeki, is using a two-pronged strategy. On the one hand he brought his political rivals closer by giving them ministerial positions in his recent cabinet reshuffle. This also happened at provincial level, where Nomvula Mokonyane, a Zuma ally, appointed Ntombi Mekgwe as new MEC for health. Mekgwe is a Mashatile ally. So Zuma and Mokonyane applied the principle of bringing their friends closer and their enemies even closer. The investigations into Ekurhuleni will affect Mekgwe, who was the region's mayor then. This essentially means that the SIU will dig some dirt on her which then can be used as political leverage at a later stage. The question then remains whether the strategy he is using could boomerang - as it did in the case of Mbeki, who became the victim in the "Polokwane revolution". Reading from recent developments, his handling of the cabinet reshuffle like a master tightrope artist, balancing the interests of the various forces within the ANC and its allies, and his newly developed fervour to unleash the might of the state on those suspected of corruption, Zuma seems to be on course to serving his second term as this country's president. His strategy has so far seemingly doused any possible fires of a Polokwane-like revolution that might reduce his second term presidential ambitions to ashes. http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/columnists/2010/11/11/jacob-zuma-on-course-for-second-term -- Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea - Robert A. Heinleinwww.kwelaxpress.co.za -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] .
