Bluster is defined as talking in a loud, angry, or offended way, usually with little effect.
One may add that bluster is verbal sabre-rattling whose purpose is to threaten and bully the recipient into quiescence.
Bluster is the favourite default of many desperate politicians. Remember when current Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema was still fighting to remain in his previous political home, the ANC.
Sensing he was losing the battle to remain in the party, Malema threatened to “spill the beans” on those he ‘knew’ were involved in malfeasance.
He would not “go down alone”, he threatened. We are still eagerly awaiting those juicy revelations after all these years.Enter former president Jacob Zuma. Last Friday, he appeared in court on 16 charges of corruption linked to the arms deal that have been dogging him since 2009.
Most South Africans will recall that he has tried every means in the past nine years of his presidency to avoid having his day in court.
They will remember how, in a travesty of justice those charges were dropped by former National Prosecuting Authority boss Mokotedi Mpshe on the flimsy reason that there was alleged “political interference”.
This line was peddled by Zuma supporters as they sought to impugn the character of then Scorpions head Bulelani Ngcuka. They had surreptitiously obtained spy tapes of a conversation the latter had with Leonard McCarthy about the impending case. Zuma’s supporters alleged that the conversation in the tape showed that Zuma would not get a fair trial.
Mpshe dropped the charges without so much as investigating the plausibility of those allegations.
The Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein last year, however, ruled in favour of the DA, which fought for years to have the charges reinstated. That was last year.
Just like his nemesis Malema (once Zuma’s staunch supporter), Zuma issued threats as he came out of the court. To be fair he has been threatening to “spill” the proverbial beans since 2009.
One wonders if those beans have not passed their sell-by date and that by the time he finally spills them few will still be interested.
Someone on social media suggested he might have storage capacity good enough to ensure the beans do not spoil with the passage of time.
Zuma, speaking to a sizeable crowd (some say 20000) said he should not be “provoked” and that he knew those who were “corrupt” and would reveal their names.
Shortly before he unceremoniously vacated the presidency in February, he had said that he was waiting for the time he would be out of the office of the president so that he could write a tell-all book.
It is about three months since he left the office and the book has yet to hit the shelves.
For those expecting a “spilling” of the beans any moment, I have some sad news for them. There shall be no spilling of beans whatsoever because there are no beans to start with.
The point behind the bluster of the former president is the threat of doing something and not actually doing it. His main preoccupation is simply avoiding jail. If the threats can ensure that he avoids jail time if he may be convicted of his charges it is all the better. The former president’s visage changed to anger and he was even finger pointing.
That was the ideal image for someone engaged in bluster. Did the crowds love it! To be seen to be threatening to do something is better than actually doing it.
If Jacob Zuma had some damning information on some of his comrades who committed crimes would he not have revealed it by now? What has he to lose if he simply reports on their nefarious clandestine activities? Consider the fact that most of his erstwhile comrades have deserted him and he has to be content with the support of a coterie of individuals who, just like him, have been dismissed.
Among the usual suspects in the impromptu rally after his court appearance was one Hlaudi Motsoeneng (sacked from the national broadcaster SABC), Supra Mahumapelo (recently “retired” from being premier of the North West) and Faith Mutambi (considered surplus to requirements of Cyril Ramaphosa cabinet).
With his back against the wall would it matter if he ratted on his former comrades? What game is he playing then? Jacob Zuma has a pathological fear of prison and would do just about anything to avoid it.
Going to jail for corruption (if he is convicted) would damage his reputation and struggle credentials, as it would undo all the hard work he has done over his struggle years.
Zuma, the ever-wily character that he is, is gambling that if his detractors fear prison like he does, they will play ball by ensuring that the charges against him are dropped. He is looking for something not unlike what Mpshe did for him (which was to drop the charges).
He may or may not get it as his party is riven by factions. His own faction is not in ascendancy and his chances are not that good in this regard. The longer the case drags on, the better for him, as it opens a possibility that the charges may eventually be dropped.
He is now 76 years old and one cannot imagine a very old man being dragged to court at the age of say 90...