Please Mr President – don’t pretend

VANESSA VALKIN

This time not about when Zuma will pay back the money for “security upgrades” at his Nkandla homestead that was Malema’s 2015 cause célèbre; but now about why he fired Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene and cost the country billions of rands in the aftermath.

What is less predictable – is if he does stand up and admit to the many crises facing us: a flailing economy with even gloomier forecasts; a water shortage; tertiary education disasters; income inequality, gross unemployment and an overburdened healthcare system – is whether he will actually show some initiative and set in motion some viable strategies for real change.

His decision to replace Finance Minister Nene for apparently refusing to do his bidding, with the grossly underqualified and little-known ANC apparatchik David van Rooyen and then to hurriedly (re)appoint Pravin Gordhan over the course of a weekend following public outrage – showed that for all his perceived arrogance – on issues that he has been sufficiently called to task on, he is sometimes willing to listen.

More evidence of this was his complete turnaround on Nkandla after seeking the advice of an expensive new senior counsel, Jeremy Gauntlett. From his initial indifference and refusal to pay back some of the money he owes for non-security-related alterations at his Nkandla homestead, he last week made a request for the auditor general and finance minister to determine an amount he should repay!

To many pundits, Zuma now seems to be feeling vulnerable: faltering parastatals (Eskom, SAA); his party’s loss of support in the 2014 national elections; pressure from his critics, from opposition parties and his own party about his scandalous relationship with the wealthy Gupta family, are all reasons for his increasing humility.

It might be optimistic but perhaps Zuma will not just cheerfully wade through a speech of smiling platitudes on Thursday night, noting all the small victories of his government while ignoring the burning issues. Our economy is a priority: he needs to address a plummeting rand, rising food prices, soaring government debt and the strong possibility that South Africa’s sovereign rating will be downgraded to junk status.  Please Mr President – give an honest analysis of the state of the nation with a cogent plan for improvement. We need leadership.