‘Zuma’s tenure as ANC president was disastrous’: Comedian Loyiso Gola touches a nerve

Loyiso Gola, the man known for telling jokes, stepped out of the comedian arena and touched a nerve when he described former ANC president Jacob Zuma’s nine-year tenure as “disastrous”. 

Zuma has been in the spotlight this week after he announced he would not campaign for the governing party, nor would he vote for it, saying it was “not the ANC I joined”.

“It is not the ANC I joined; it will be a betrayal to campaign for the ANC of [president Cyril] Ramaphosa. My conscience will not allow that,” he said. 

Zuma’s statement sparked debate on the state of the ANC when he was at the helm for nine years before being forced to resign in February 2018 as president of the country. 

Reflecting on Zuma's leadership, Gola said the former head of state made the governing party and it alliance partner Cosatu weaker.

“Jacob Zuma’s tenure as ANC president was disastrous. [There were] multiple breakaways, [a] weaker youth league, weaker Cosatu, weaker women's league. Now he wants to tell us he won't vote for the ANC. You made the bed. Sleep on it,” Gola said.

While some people concurred on his take about Zuma's leadership, Gola also received a backlash on social media.

The first breakaway party under Zuma’s watch was the formation of Congress of the People (COPE) in 2009 which received 1,311,027 votes after it was established.

The party was founded by Mosiuoa Lekota, Mbhazima Shilowa and Mluleki George. They were disgruntled after former president Thabo Mbeki was forced to resign in September 2008. COPE was supported by thousands of ANC loyalists and ward councillors [later fired] who did not support the ANC's move to push Mbeki to resign, making way for Zuma's presidency.

The second major breakaway party under Zuma was the EFF, which was founded in July 2013 following Julius Malema’s expulsion from the ANC. The EFF in its first national election in 2014 received 1,169,259 votes. 

“As the ANC I would congratulate him [Zuma] on deciding not to campaign for the ANC. You do not want people who are tarnished to be voting for the ANC,” ANC veteran Mavuso Msimang said when reacting to Zuma’s public announcement. 

Msimang said Zuma has not cleared his name in arms deal allegations after his co-accused Schabir Shaik, who served as a financial adviser to the then-deputy president, was sentenced in 2005 to 15 years for corruption.

Shaik was accused of facilitating payment of a bribe by the arms company Thint (Thales) to Zuma before he became president. 

“Jacob Zuma, way back at the time when Schabir Shaik was sentenced to three concurrent sentences and went to jail for that, Zuma said he ‘cannot wait for my day in court to clarify the situation’ but that never happened. I think the ANC should welcome the fact that he will not campaign for them. It is good for the ANC,” Msimang said on eNCA. 

Meanwhile, the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal labelled Zuma’s announcement as a divorce from the ANC. 

“When you are married and your wife says ‘I still love you’ but is married to another man, there’s no need for divorce, she has already divorced you. Then you would be engaging in a futile exercise, she has already chosen her path,” said ANC KZN secretary Bheki Mtolo.

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