Dear President Zuma
I greet you in peace, Nxamalala, Msholozi. Even though you do not know me personally, I know that when you meet me in the streets or in a community meeting, you will address me as your child. Because you are a true African elder, you will also treat me like your own child.
Let me begin by congratulating you on your re-election as the President of the ANC. Despite a systemic and calculated anti-Zuma tirade waged by the media, political commentators, monopoly capitalists, sympathizers of capital, etc., branches of the ANC have remained steadfast in their belief that ANC belongs to its branches, and nowhere else. Your election is not a victory to you alone. It is also a victory to the millions in our country and continent who still believe in the African way of doing things. It is a victory to all who subscribe to African values and principles, like me.
I wish you good luck in your work as leader of the ANC and president of the Republic. I pray that your enemies realize that no matter how hard they try, they will never bring you down. The intensity of their hatred against you brings you good fortune. And those who swear at you will face the wrath of your ancestors.
When former ANCYL president Julius Malema hurled all sorts of insults at you, you refused the temptation to be angry. Instead, you attempted to discipline the young man like your child. When you remarked that young people must respect elders, Malema and some friends of his responded by intensifying their insults at you. Once again, you remained calm and never became emotional, like a true father.
When those whose houses are fenced with high walls besieged your home in the name of “transparency”, you rejected the temptation to attack them physically, even though it was justifiable to do so. Amongst these people was Helen Zille, whose house has never been visited by you before. In fact, the house of the Western Cape premier, who boasts massive shareholding in, amongst others, Pick n Pay, is probably fully fenced so that even the neighbour cannot hear or see what goes on. The property is probably guarded by ferocious dogs keeping strangers at bay. You never sought revenge.
Mr President, please know that even when they chastise you as being “illiterate”, I will stand by you. They say you are illiterate because to them, you represent a ‘bantu’. To them you are a ‘heathen’ who needs to be cleansed in order to conform to their own Western standards. Your refusal to reject your African values is a problem to many South Africans, black and white.
According to your detractors, no African can be smart, or intelligent, without having gone to school. Your shrewdness and cunning mind is a mystery to them because you have received no formal education. You are a living proof that the theory that states that Africans are inherently of lower intelligence is a myth that can never be proven scientifically. You are an individual of superior intellect. I have no choice but to take my hat off in your honour.
I write this letter to you to let you know that I shall always be at your defence against your nemeses. I have stood by you when you were faced with a barrage of court cases. I maintained that you are being falsely accused by those who are intimidated by your popularity among the rank and file members of the ANC. Even when Brett Murray sought undue fame through undermining you, I defended your person in public.
When they argued that you were taking the country to the dogs, I showed them raw data showing how you were steering the country in the right direction. All of them have since hidden their tails from the public eye. And I remain convinced that you did not become president of the ANC and the country by accident. You deserve to be our leader. You deserve to be the father of our nation.
Mr President, may you please continue to practice your traditions without any fear or hesitation. If you want to slaughter a goat in honour of your ancestors, please do so without fear. If you want to marry another wife, please do so. I pray that you continue to lead the country towards socio-economic prosperity as you have done for many years. Stay strong, my president! Thank you for lending me an ear.
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