Former president Jacob Zuma celebrated his birthday last month. He turned 80. History will show that this charming man with a hearty laugh was conscientised into politics at a young age, joined the struggle against apartheid and rose up the ranks of the ANC and its army, Umkhonto we Sizwe.
It cannot have been an easy decision to stand up, in the 1960s, to fight apartheid. Joining the ANC or any of the liberation movements in those days was a ticket to torture, jail, exile or a death sentence. Don’t be fooled by the many people who now speak loudly about their role in the fight against apartheid. Statistically very few South Africans joined the struggle. Those who did, such as Zuma, were the brave among us.
Zuma was arrested, jailed on Robben Island, went into exile and fought apartheid from Mozambique, Zambia, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and many other territories.
When it was time to talk to the apartheid government, Zuma was, from the beginning, a key member of the ANC’s negotiating team. Even before the unbanning of organisations and the release of Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners, Zuma and others were deep in talks with the apartheid government to prepare for a new dawn for SA.
My favourite Zuma story, among many, dates back to September 12 1989, when the first direct meeting between the ANC in exile and the National Party government took place. On the apartheid government side were two of the regime’s top spies: National Intelligence Service deputy head Mike Louw and chief of operations Maritz Spaarwater. They had arranged to meet Thabo Mbeki (who was using the alias John Simelane) and another ANC man, a Jack Simelane. That Jack Simelane was Jacob Zuma.
Mbeki and Zuma arrived in Geneva that morning and drove to the Palace Hotel in Lucerne, where they were shown to room 339. Now, anything could have happened. The apartheid government had kidnapped, shot and killed hundreds of ANC leaders across the world. The two men could have suffered the same fate.
Mbeki and Zuma arrived, found the interleading door to room 338 open, and walked in. Louw and Spaarwater looked at them. Mbeki and Zuma stared back. Then Mbeki said: “Well, here we are ... bloody terrorists and, for all you know, f***ing communists as well.”
How could a man who gave 30 years of his life to the fight against oppression hand his free country over to a family of criminals so easily?
The four laughed. Then they sat down and talked. Within four years they and many others had achieved what many had thought impossible: the April 27 1994 election, a government of national unity, freedom for every woman and man in our land, and a new country, rich with possibilities.
My eyes fill with tears when I think of the sacrifices people such as Mbeki and Zuma made for the freedom we enjoy today. When Zuma went into exile, he left behind his young wife, MaKhumalo, spending decades away from her. It reminds me of people such as Mandela, leaving a young Winnie and their children behind. Walter and Albertina Sisulu, Govan and Epainette Mbeki, Robert and Zondeni Veronica Sobukwe ...
These are painful, harrowing stories of defiance, love, sacrifice and the horror of what apartheid did to this country. These are the stories of what very few among us were prepared to sacrifice to deliver us the freedom we enjoy today.
Thinking of these stories makes it even more extraordinary that a man such as Zuma could end up being what we called a “spanner boy” for a family of crass shysters such as the Guptas. Thinking of his and other people’s sacrifices makes it obvious that anyone guilty of what he did — betraying his own revolution — should go to jail. Reading the latest Zondo commission report makes it clear this man sold out.
Chief justice Raymond Zondo was appointed by Zuma to lead this commission. This is what Zondo said: “President Zuma was prepared to remove people from their positions who were very good in their jobs if the Guptas wanted those people removed, or if the Guptas wanted people associated with them to be put into those positions.”
Following the Guptas’ instructions, Zuma removed Nhlanhla Nene from his position as finance minister, Themba Maseko from his position as CEO of the Government Communication and Information System, Barbara Hogan as public enterprises minister, Ngoako Ramatlhodi from mineral resources and energy. He replaced them all with lackeys who were prepared to take instruction from the Guptas.
How could a man who gave 30 years of his life to the fight against oppression hand his free country to a family of criminals so easily? I don’t know. All I know is Zuma has betrayed his history, his comrades, his struggle, his people, and himself. He belongs in jail.
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