The Big Read: Our very own lord of the green

The late Ugandan dictator Idi Amin liked titles. He particularly liked giving them to himself, and one of them in particular will bring a smile to your lips.

He anointed himself "His Excellency President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Sea, and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular".

That was not enough. He was obsessed with his "calling" to free the Scots from the yoke of the English, and so he dubbed himself King of Scotland.

During state functions in the mid-1970s, Scots living in Uganda were made to carry Amin on a chair as though he were a feudal king.

It was Amin's love of himself that sprang to mind last week when I opened my Sunday newspapers.

I had been out of town and only got to read the Sundays on Monday. They were, as usual, packed with advertising inserts.

One of them stood out, though. It was a 16-page insert printed on brilliant white, thick paper, and had a "20 Years of Freedom" logo on it. The title pronounced: "The Jacob Zuma Legacy Special".

As I paged through it, my dread heightened. I was not sure what I was reading. The whole supplement was dedicated to singing the praises of Number One. It was not a publication that sought to tell us about the work of the government.

It was a publication specifically produced to make us bend a knee before the president.

There are no adverts except for five from the Passenger Rail Agency of SA.

What idiot came up with this idea? What idiot who believes he is President Zuma's friend conceived and executed it? What idiot at the Passenger Rail Agency saw fit to place the five advertisements?

Here is the thing. Since Tuesday, I have had numerous conversations with many people who have laughed outright with embarrassment at the supplement. Who, after all, comes up with a line like this: "Unlike many wealthy personalities who play golf for individual fulfilment, the president uses it to empower the powerless."

Even worse is that Prasa, a state-owned enterprise, seems to have sponsored the supplement.

Is this what Prasa does - sing the praises of one man and lick his boots?

Where were the executives at this organisation when this was done? How about a publication telling us about new trains, new lines and new times? No. That's not what we do. We sing the praises of The Leader. It makes one feel like one is in Zimbabwe, quite frankly.

What about Zuma himself? Did he open his newspapers on Sunday last week and say: "Wow!" with enthusiasm and approval, or was he shamed by the insert?

Because, really, things like that supplement make him look even worse than he actually is. Zuma and his team have travelled a lot. They should know by now that you only see that sort of stuff in places like Equatorial Guinea - places where the cult of personality holds sway, where everyone genuflects before the leader. Dictatorships.

Perhaps that is where we are now, or where we are headed.

How did we get here, to where taxpayers' money is used to sing the praises of one man?

I would understand if Zuma's values actually reflected some of the things written about him in the supplement.

Unfortunately, a man who has spent the past five years trying to evade jail - not to mention the tens of questionable actions he has admitted to - is not deserving of such largesse.

Are we becoming an odd country, in which every single sinew of our being is dedicated to the adulation, adoration and protection of one man?

At the SABC the board has inexplicably, perhaps illegally, pushed through the appointment of Hlaudi Motsoeneng as COO despite damning findings against him by the public protector.

This is key: our institutions are being trampled on. Every institution in our country is being packed with Zuma cronies whose job seems not to be the upholding of the constitution but the protection of one man.

It has become worse - not just his protection, but the white-washing of history to make him appear the hero he is not.

What is next? The institutions are being hobbled, the truth is being buried and taxpayers' money is being used to rewrite history.

Before we know it there will be all sorts of honours and titles being conferred on this compromised character.

Before long we will be carrying Zuma on our shoulders. The rot will be complete.

The new king has emerged. What a sorry sight.