Zuma presidency 'not all bad'
2008-08-14 22:05
Michael Hamlyn
Cape Town - Tony Leon, the former leader of he
Democratic Alliance, reckons that life under Jacob Zuma as president need not be all bad.
He told the Cape Town Press Club on
Thursday that at least when he becomes president, he will start off under
scrutiny.
When Nelson Mandela became president, Leon said, he was a secular saint,
and that was a good and a bad thing.
"When Thabo Mbeki became president we
assumed - I never did, but you all did," Leon said - "that he was Mr
Delivery and Mr Intellectual. Well, he failed instantly on both counts."
Now no one has any expectations of Zuma at all, said Leon, who was
in Cape Town to launch his autobiography.
"They kind of think: 'Well this
guy is pretty compromised.' And in one sense, he will start off under
scrutiny.
"People will be keeping the lights on and hopefully the microphones
and the microscopes pointing in the right direction.
"He won't be given a
free pass. And that can be a helpful thing."
Emotional intelligence
The good thing about Jacob Zuma, as opposed to the current president,
Leon continued, is that he is extremely comfortable in his own skin, which
is an advantage.
"He uses a lot of emotional intelligence. Which is often
better than intellect, because it means he is more plugged in to the
concerns of people, often in a very positive way.
"He's the guy who said that
crime is a threat to the constitutional order of South Africa, and indeed it
is.
"As a general proposition, he is absolutely correct.
"When we did battle with the current president, crime was either
contested, didn't exist, was a figment of the white imagination, or indeed
the statistics were demonstrably going in the other direction.
Independent judiciary
"No actual
recognition that there was a crisis here that had to be wished away or
explained away or didn't exist. So in that sense he's better.
However, Leon warned that the worst thing about a Zuma presidency derived
from what was happening with the judiciary now.
He said the crucial non-negotiable factor in a peaceful and democratic South Africa is an
independent judiciary. "That is what is required by citizens," he said.
He explained that when Mandela was dragged into court by Louis Luyt and
lost, he stood up for the judiciary.
Thabo Mbeki for reasons of self-interest over the 14th Amendment Bill also stood up for the judiciary.
"Jacob Zuma can't stand up for the judiciary," Leon said, "because the
judiciary needs to be squared away for him to get into power.
"The covering
fire from the top is not there.
"And that is the greatest threat of
the Zuma advance."
- I-Net Bridge (News24)