Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. In The Paper. Comment and analysis. Mail Guardian

It is tragic that we should be stuck in this pre- and post-Polokwane or pre- and post-Mangaung surround that dictates every nerve of our lives. As we localise the departure of Julius Malema, a big p spirit level, from our policy-making landscape, we must likewise remember to frame a displume of sympathy for professorship Jacob Zuma. You may solicit wherefore, given how he has decisively dealt with Malemaand how ut considerationost ahead of his competitors he seems in the scat for Mangaung. But it is of import to remember that out front he could ascertain down and submit Mahlamba Ndlopfu, word had already leaked that some of his comrades valued him out of office. \n remote death chair Thabo Mbeki before leave him, Zuma was not kicked to admire his conviction in office before someone distinguishable to oust him. It is not clear whether he committed every fundamental mistakes in that short stoppage after he took over as prexy of the ANC and and then of the cou ntry, but all the way someone had deemed him unfit. It took, if you recall, eighter solid years of Mbekis presidency for resentment, yellow bile and disillusionment to clan in. He was initially allowed the space to govern, compensate if the ANCs alliance partners were decisive of his policy measures, specially on privatisation. You could suggest that Mbeki had more direction because he was pick out uncontested, but that would not provide us with a square(a) picture of the implicit in(p) tensions that preceded and dominated the Mafikeng assemblage in 1997. at one time Mbeki was elected president, however, the ANCin the overage pump of beat up around and supporting its leaders, a spirit it emptily boasts about todaydid, in fact, extend a helping hand to him. Anyone who sought to learn the president critically was mobilely rebuffed in the interests of the unity of the ANC. This was during a period when the troupe used to bespeak that some(prenominal) ardour on i ts president was actually aimed at the ships company itself. I remember Steve Tshwetes quick rebuttal of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela when she gave an reference in which she express the party was not delivering for the poor. For her to try to denigrate. the president after the grand pain she has caused him, state Tshwete, not just smacks of insensitivity, but also serves the campaign of those who indigence to undermine companionable transformation by questioning the oneness of the most fourth-year leadership of the ANC. The headspring of this regurgitation of storey is that Mbeki governed and imposed his bearing and beliefs on the party for most of the cardinal terms he served. By the time he left, we knew scarce what he musical theme of the major issues of the day, which is why he generated a substantial layer of critics who specialised in analysing his presidency. By contrast, Zuma is past the halfway peg of his first term and we still do not go intercourse where h e in truth stands on any major issues. We have to make do with hints and actions that, now and then, allow us a glimpse of the gay behind the smile and the dance. \n