The events that played out at what was Cosatu’s main “May Day” rally in Bloemfontein yesterday force us to ask ourselves, who exactly wants President Jacob Zuma to continue leading this country?
It was unprecedented in our post apartheid history for a sitting president to be denied a platform at a national event of yesterday’s magnitude.
The last time a sitting president faced such humiliation was in October 2006 when Thabo Mbeki was booed by a Zuma-supporting crowd in Durban in front of then Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The event was the launch of Mahatma Gandhi’s Satyagraha Movement.
But Mbeki at least managed to finish his speech, while yesterday the workers would have none of it as they heckled and gestured that they needed a change of leadership.
Their targets were both Zuma and Cosatu president S’dumo Dlamini. The latter should have listened when different Cosatu affiliates began asking on what grounds Zuma could be expected to address a Cosatu rally since the federation’s central executive committee has taken a resolution calling on Zuma to step down.
Zuma left the Bloemfontein stadium without uttering a word and was whisked away in a motorcade.
The workers had delivered a clear message: they, unlike Zuma and Free State premier Ace Magashule, have not been captured by the Guptas.
The event was as embarrassing for Dlamini as it was for Zuma. The Cosatu president chose to define himself outside of his leadership collective by openly supporting Zuma despite the decision to the contrary by the labour federation.
Yesterday’s events beg the question, who exactly is Zuma supposed to be leading if the workers, the alliance partners, civil society, business community, credible ANC veterans and some of the Top Six have called his leadership into question?
At his 75th birthday party celebration last month Zuma told those gathered that he would step down if asked to do so by the ANC.
Who does he think he is fooling?
His response to the initial nationwide march against him last month was to complain that “racists” were marching against him.
The crowd yesterday was quite clearly not made up of “racists” but of blue-collar South Africans, ordinary workers, the very constituency that brought him to power.
They now want him gone.
How much longer will Zuma and his grouping bury their heads in the sand and delude themselves that all is well?
The Free State was meant to be a “safe” venue for Zuma. After all his ally Magashule, the provincial strongman, is firmly in charge there – no one dares to question his word, lest they be purged.
Following yesterday’s pandemonium Magashule would go on to tell a TV reporter that those who heckled Zuma were not from his province.
How laughable.
It was Bob Marley who famously sang “You can fool some people sometimes, but you couldn’t fool all people all the time”.
All along we have been fed the fallacy that Zuma is in power because he enjoys the support of the working class. This has now been shown to be utter rubbish.
Yesterday the myth of Zuma having grassroots support was dispelled for all to see. It is now clear that the only people who support the president are his band of self-serving national executive committee members whose interests are not to see South Africa prosper, but to protect their comfortable positions at the feeding trough.
Zuma’s leadership not only undermines the rule of law, which he continues to flout, but it is bad for our national psyche.
Every day yet another story emerges of how the Guptas are engaged in one or another form of corruption – and with impunity. The latest revelation involves millions in kickbacks which they apparently demanded from companies wanting to do business with the parastatal, Transnet. This would be for their personal benefit and that of Zuma.
The situation is frankly sickening.
The workers may be poor, but they are not stupid. That was obvious yesterday as they showed the so-called “friend of the workers” the middle finger. This means Zuma can no longer claim to have a constituency of blue-collar workers. Nor in fact, of very many elsewhere.
The events at Logan Loch stadium not only put paid to the myth of the “man of the people” but also signal the death of Cosatu as we have come to know it. Politics, not shop-floor issues have been allowed to take centre stage. Union leaders are more interested in their political survival than workers’ issues.
But yesterday the workers chose their day to show Zuma, Dlamini and any other compromised leaders who really is the boss.
Sibusiso Ngalwa is editor of the Daily Dispatch
‘Man of the people’ myth goes bang
It was unprecedented in our post apartheid history for a sitting president to be denied a platform at a national event of yesterday’s magnitude.
The last time a sitting president faced such humiliation was in October 2006 when Thabo Mbeki was booed by a Zuma-supporting crowd in Durban in front of then Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The event was the launch of Mahatma Gandhi’s Satyagraha Movement.
But Mbeki at least managed to finish his speech, while yesterday the workers would have none of it as they heckled and gestured that they needed a change of leadership.
Their targets were both Zuma and Cosatu president S’dumo Dlamini. The latter should have listened when different Cosatu affiliates began asking on what grounds Zuma could be expected to address a Cosatu rally since the federation’s central executive committee has taken a resolution calling on Zuma to step down.
Zuma left the Bloemfontein stadium without uttering a word and was whisked away in a motorcade.
The workers had delivered a clear message: they, unlike Zuma and Free State premier Ace Magashule, have not been captured by the Guptas.
The event was as embarrassing for Dlamini as it was for Zuma. The Cosatu president chose to define himself outside of his leadership collective by openly supporting Zuma despite the decision to the contrary by the labour federation.
Yesterday’s events beg the question, who exactly is Zuma supposed to be leading if the workers, the alliance partners, civil society, business community, credible ANC veterans and some of the Top Six have called his leadership into question?
At his 75th birthday party celebration last month Zuma told those gathered that he would step down if asked to do so by the ANC.
Who does he think he is fooling?
His response to the initial nationwide march against him last month was to complain that “racists” were marching against him.
The crowd yesterday was quite clearly not made up of “racists” but of blue-collar South Africans, ordinary workers, the very constituency that brought him to power.
They now want him gone.
How much longer will Zuma and his grouping bury their heads in the sand and delude themselves that all is well?
The Free State was meant to be a “safe” venue for Zuma. After all his ally Magashule, the provincial strongman, is firmly in charge there – no one dares to question his word, lest they be purged.
Following yesterday’s pandemonium Magashule would go on to tell a TV reporter that those who heckled Zuma were not from his province.
How laughable.
It was Bob Marley who famously sang “You can fool some people sometimes, but you couldn’t fool all people all the time”.
All along we have been fed the fallacy that Zuma is in power because he enjoys the support of the working class. This has now been shown to be utter rubbish.
Yesterday the myth of Zuma having grassroots support was dispelled for all to see. It is now clear that the only people who support the president are his band of self-serving national executive committee members whose interests are not to see South Africa prosper, but to protect their comfortable positions at the feeding trough.
Zuma’s leadership not only undermines the rule of law, which he continues to flout, but it is bad for our national psyche.
Every day yet another story emerges of how the Guptas are engaged in one or another form of corruption – and with impunity. The latest revelation involves millions in kickbacks which they apparently demanded from companies wanting to do business with the parastatal, Transnet. This would be for their personal benefit and that of Zuma.
The situation is frankly sickening.
The workers may be poor, but they are not stupid. That was obvious yesterday as they showed the so-called “friend of the workers” the middle finger. This means Zuma can no longer claim to have a constituency of blue-collar workers. Nor in fact, of very many elsewhere.
The events at Logan Loch stadium not only put paid to the myth of the “man of the people” but also signal the death of Cosatu as we have come to know it. Politics, not shop-floor issues have been allowed to take centre stage. Union leaders are more interested in their political survival than workers’ issues.
But yesterday the workers chose their day to show Zuma, Dlamini and any other compromised leaders who really is the boss.
Sibusiso Ngalwa is editor of the Daily Dispatch
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