I was one of the biggest critics against Mr Zuma before he was elected president of the ANC and ultimately of the Republic. My criticism of him however had nothing to do with the colour of his skin, his level of education or his moral standing or popularity within the ruling party. My criticism was mainly due to the types of challenges this country continues to face and the type of leader it would require to seriously deal with them head-on in ushering the proudly successful democracy we keep preaching to the world. And for me, President Zuma seemed inappropriate for what lay on this presidential path.
Besides being a general optimist, I have never really understood why I feel so passionately about this country and its people. I love this country so much I could no longer tolerate all the negativity that I constantly found on many of our online news and blogs, especially their comments sections. Recently however, I have realised that many of us had no choice but to reveal our frustrations and anger at the disillusionment of President Zuma’s tenure as our supposed saviour and leader.
Due to my obvious enthusiasm for this country and the guilt I felt for harshly criticising and judging a man without really giving him a chance, I decided to stop complaining and instead decided to wait and see where this president would lead his people. I secretly hoped that due to the controversy surrounding him that he would want to redeem himself and prove all of us naysayers wrong. After 4 years in office however, I think the jury is out that he is just not the man we thought he would be. More accurately, he just was not cut out for the job the majority thought he was ideal for.
There will be those who will be happy to remind us of their warnings about choosing Zuma in the first place. And on the other hand, those like me who still had doubts about the man but decided to put those aside in the interest of that which was greater than our pride. Now the time has finally come however, to admit that President Zuma had his chance and indeed failed to adequately deal with the problems that faced him and most of us citizens on a daily basis. No one expected the job to be easy and although there was some hope that something could be salvaged from his presidency, he has failed dismally with the issues that plague us the most; corruption, crime, education and unemployment.
In his defence he has said all the right things and had the support of some great leaders within his cabinet to at least salvage some marginal success in certain quarters; Trevor Manuel and Pravin Gordhan being part of the select few. Initiatives such as the National Planning Commission were plausible in theory but still seem to lack the attitude required to put them in action. For me to be unable to name a single thing that he has done effectively is my greatest disappointment.
As mere individuals, many of us have no say in terms of who will take over from Zuma as the ANC president in Mangaung later this year. However, we have the greatest say in deciding who the next president of this country will be. The time has come to forget about political injustices of the past and focus on the required leadership qualities necessary to take this wonderful country finally to the next step. President Mandela took us on the first one, but it seems we have been stuck there since his departure.
This is not about racism though as we all know that there are enough capable black leaders in this country as much as white. And it’s not about political party allegiances either. All these will mean even less when the right individual with the nations interests at heart, finally takes control of running this country the way it should be. I personally don’t care about any of that anyway. Just give me a competent leader who is ready to roll up his sleeves and is prepared to do whatever it required and necessary without fear or favour of anyone.
The time for meritocracy, cronyism and lip service has to come to an end. The time for action has arrived.
frustrations and anger at the disillusionment of President Zuma’s tenure as our supposed saviour and leader.
Due to my obvious enthusiasm for this country and the guilt I felt for harshly criticising and judging a man without really giving him a chance, I decided to stop complaining and instead to wait and see where this president would lead his people. I secretly hoped that due to the controversy surrounding him that he would want to redeem himself and prove all of us naysayers wrong. After 4 years in office however, I think the jury is out that he is just not the man we thought he would be. More accurately, he just was not cut out for the job the majority thought he was ideal for.
There will be those who will be happy to remind us of their warnings about choosing Zuma in the first place. And on the other hand, those like me who still had doubts about the man but decided to put those aside in the interest of that which was greater than our pride. Now the time has finally however, to admit that President Zuma had his chance and indeed failed to adequately deal with the problems that faced him and most of us citizens on a daily basis. No one expected the job to be easy and although there was some hope that something could be salvaged from his presidency, he has failed dismally with the issues that plague us the most; crime, education, employment and corruption.
In his defence he has said all the right things and had the support of some great leaders within his cabinet to at least salvage some marginal success in certain quarters. Initiatives such as the National Planning Commission were plausible in theory but still seem to lack the attitudes required to put them in action. For me to be unable to name a single thing that he has done effectively is my greatest disappointment.
As mere individuals, many of us have no say in terms of who will take over from Zuma as the ANC president in Mangaung later this year. However, we have the greatest say in deciding who the next president of this country will be. The time has come to forget about political injustices of the past and focus on the required leadership qualities necessary to take this wonderful country finally to the next step. President Mandela took us on the first one, but it seems we have been stuck there since his retirement.
This is not about racism though as we all know that there are enough capable black leaders in this country as much as white. And it’s not about political party allegiances either. All these will mean even less when the right individual with the nations interests at heart finally takes control of running this country. I personally don’t care about any of that anyway. Just give me a competent leader who is ready to roll up his sleeves and is prepared to do whatever it required and necessary without fear or favour.
The time for meritocracy, cronyism and lip service has to come to an end. The time for action has arrived.
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