PLEASE ZUMA, WHEN YOU WIN THIS ELECTION,DONT PURSUE YOUR FALLEN ENEMIES TO THEIR CAVES!

THE TIMES NEWSPAPER
JOHANNESBURG, SA
By Mondli Makhanya
Apr 11, 2009

I fear the victors may chase the vanquished into the caves and forests until there is not one left standing. If it were a football game, the scribes would run out of superlatives. The phrase “clash of titans” would be there.

They would call it pulsating. The word “pacy” would probably be used and “thrilling” thrown in. You would read about “goalmouth-to-goalmouth action”.

Except that this is not a game. It is a battle most supreme. And pleasant to watch it certainly is not.

Members of our tribe might relish the fact that we have the best seats from which to observe one of the most riveting stories on the planet, but as citizens we feel the pain as much as anyone else.

The issue I am talking about is the battle between Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma, a battle that has so fractured this nation.

On that June day in 2005, when Mbeki fired Zuma from the deputy presidency, we had no idea of the twists and turns this story would take.

Mbeki himself thought that he had fired a between-the-eyes shot and killed his bête noire.

Mbeki stood before a joint sitting of parliament and gave one of the most eloquent and direct speeches of his presidency. There was none of that verbose and pretentious quoting from the classics that he used to show how superior he was to the 47 million other South Africans. It was a speech that displayed leadership; if it was given by a more honest individual, it could have set the tone for the building of a clean republic.

“Both the deputy president and I are acutely sensitive to the responsibilities we bear as prescribed by our constitution. We understand very well that we should at all times act in a manner that seeks to uphold, defend and respect the constitution, as required by the same constitution.

“As I have already indicated, this includes, among other things, the need to respect the constitutional status, institutions, powers and functions of government in the other spheres. ..”

Then came that sentence that sent the nation into a collective hush:

“As president of the republic, I have come to the conclusion that the circumstances dictate that, in the interest of the honourable deputy president, the government, our young democratic system, and our country, it would be best to release the Honourable Jacob Zuma from his responsibilities as deputy president of the republic and member of the cabinet.”

With those words, war was declared.

For the next four years the two men were in a Cain-and-Abel battle to the end. They fought an aggressive war that divided their party, infected the public service and severely damaged the nation.

Initially, it seemed the Machiavelian Mbeki had the upper hand. He did, after all, have all the tools of party and state to fight the war while his opponent was an unemployed peasant. But it soon became clear that this opponent was not going to be a pushover.

During those years, the two men were probably in each other’s dreams and nightmares, and their battle dominated their daytime thoughts.

And, to paraphrase the old saying, we the people were the grass that was trampled.

For the time being, it seems Zuma has emerged as the triumphant one. While a forlorn Mbeki paces the lawns of his retirement home waiting for the phone to ring (any phone call will do if you are a powerless ex-powermonger), Zuma is practising his presidential posture in preparation for high office.

But will his assumption of office spell the end of the war?

I have to say I doubt it. The vengeful noises coming out of the Zuma camp this week were worrisome.

Leaders of the tripartite alliance were baying for the blood of Mbeki, his former deputy, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, and of course her husband, Bulelani Ngcuka.

In their frothing at the mouth , the hatred for those perceived as Mbeki’s coterie was palpable.

The hatred is not just about what they term “the persecution of Zuma”. For many of them, it is about the personal hurt Mbeki caused them during his sadistic reign. They want him and his allies to feel the pain they were put through.

Over the next few years we may see the victors chase the vanquished into the caves and forests and hunt them until there is not one left standing.

They will seek to destroy their careers, squeeze their businesses and generally make life miserable for them.

One understands the need to get to the bottom of how the state may have been manipulated, and the correctness of going the legal route in this respect. Just as much as it would have been proper for the Zuma case to have been dealt with by a court rather than in shady back-room deals, so this matter must be dealt with in the most transparent manner possible. If that means those alleged to have been involved in nefarious activities must be tried, then so be it.

What is disconcerting is the desire for vengeance rather than justice. The victors in this war should pause and think about the pain this country has been through in recent years.

Vengeance for the sake of vengeance would be our new leadership’s greatest tribute to the Mbeki legacy.

They would do well to remember this Chinese proverb: “He who seeks vengeance must dig two graves: one for his enemy and one for himself.”