Zuma's song

The followers are not just singing, they are part of the song; the song is them, and they are the song

"Yinde lendlela esiyihambayo! Y-i-i-inde."

THE song begins as a smooth, understated hum in pianissimo. Then, the musical maestro that he is, Jacob Zuma gradually coaxes it into a resounding, exuberant melody, a throaty allegro that swallows you whole.

"Y-i-i-nde lendlela esiyihambayo. Kwasho uMandela kubalandeli bakhe.!!!" ("It's a long journey, this journey we're embarking upon, so said Mandela to his followers.")

The song grows on his followers. Not unlike a thousand cobras swaying to the magic of the charmer's flute, the masses are buoyantly floating on the river of melody, eating out of the palm of their leader.

Then Zuma bends into a half-crouch like a tiger about to attack, as he bellows: "Y-i-i-inde."

The crowd roars approval as they also go into a half-crouch and swagger like a conquering army, thundering along: "Y-i-n-d-e lendlela."

It's Thursday, December 20. This is the final day of the 53rd ANC national conference and it's just been confirmed that Zuma will serve a second term as president of the governing party.

It's only two days since Zuma started teaching this song to his followers, who were by and large not familiar with its lyrics and harmony. But now they are singing as if they were born singing it, as if it's part of their DNA.

"Y-i-i-n-d-e lendlela."

By the time the song reaches its explosive climax, Zuma's followers are ecstatic, singing with gusto - yinde lendlela esiyihambayo, kwasho uMandela kubalandeli bakhe.

They are not just singing, they are part of the song; the song is them, and they are the song, for they are resigned to the inevitability of this long road that they must travel with their leader.

"Y-i-i-i-nde lendlela."

Zuma's landslide victory over his opponent Kgalema Motlanthe marks the dawning of yet another phase in his political life. In Polokwane he triumphed over a side that had tried every trick in the book to get him consigned to the dustbin of history, using state intelligence agencies to build a case against him.

In response, he came out with guns blazing, singing his Mshini Wam ("Bring me my machine gun"). Every time he appeared in court, either for that infamous rape trial in 2006, or in subsequent years facing charges of corruption, he invoked the machine gun.

The machine gun song became his followers' rallying call again when former ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema and his cronies tried to upstage him.

Now Mbeki, the Scorpions, Malema, Motlanthe and other enemies are figurative corpses scattered on the long road that Zuma and his followers must walk.

"Y-i-i-n-d-e lendlela."

It's "out with Mshini, and in with Yinde Lendlela". Even the T-shirts confirm this transition. It's out with the rape-trial T-shirts which read "Hands off Zuma" to triumphalist T-shirts bearing the message: "Hail The Chief!", or, simply, "My President, 2012", or "100% Zumantashe" a reference to the conquering partnership of Zuma and his sidekick Gwede Mantashe, the secretary-general of the ANC.

Another song which comes easily to the lips of the masses is Sifuna unobhala one-contenti ("We want a secretary-general who has intellectual content") - a jibe at Fikile Mbalula, who was running for SG but was accused of being intellectually flaky.

"Y-i-i-n-d-e lendlela."

Zuma is now marching towards his next milestone on this long road: the elections of 2014, when he is likely to stand for a second term as president of the country.

His followers have already endorsed his endeavour. There's a T-shirt that was popular at Mangaung. Again, it was inspired by a song: UMsholozi uzophatha, sifunga isibhozo - loosely translated: "Msholozi will reign, we swear by the number seven." The "number seven" is a reference to the fact that we are going to have Zuma as leader of this country for the next seven years, assuming he stands for and serves a second term, which would end in 2019.

Zuma's triumph over Motlanthe - a total of 2983 votes against the contender's 991 - is an astounding performance for a man who was embroiled in controversy in the build-up to the election, most notably the R240-million Nkandlagate.

"The chattering classes are not in touch with reality," said Peter Botabota, a delegate from the Peter Mokaba region in Polokwane, Limpopo, and a staunch Zuma supporter, with a T-shirt to prove it.

"You guys will always be overtaken by events because you don't understand us. You don't understand this man [Zuma]. That Zuma was going to win was a foregone conclusion. We came here to celebrate, not to fight a campaign."

Unisa student Botabota said he was not worried about Zuma's public image. "It's all manufactured. There are numerous conspiracies against the man. We've made peace with that. If he's guilty, he must be found guilty by the courts. We have an independent judiciary in this country, and we will allow the courts to do their job. Of course President Zuma deserves to live in a beautiful house. You can't expect a president to live in a hovel like that over there," he said, pointing at a humble house in Phahameng township just outside town, where he was having a celebratory braai at Sechaba's Meat Place.

David Letsie, a supporter of Motlanthe, holds a slightly different view as to why Zuma won. A ward councillor from Swanieville on the West Rand, Letsie is articulate and measured: "We are gracious in our defeat. We won't sulk and undo the job that has been done by Jacob Zuma in building the movement."

Indeed, under Zuma's presidency, the membership of the ANC has swelled from 621237 in 2007, when the ruling party had its conference in Polokwane, to 1220057 this year.

Letsie continued to explain: "He has his faults, but he won this election fair and square. We can't find him guilty, even though there are all these allegations against him. But what I can say is that he marched to victory on a sympathy vote."

Explain?

"In the build-up to the election Julius Malema said he would fight against Zuma. And there were all these allegations against him. The Nkandla story also broke in the build-up to the election. Combined, all these elements made Zuma a victim. South Africans love an underdog. Once again, as happened during the rape trial and the Polokwane situation, Zuma came out as a victim. People threw in their lot with him because he was under attack. They had to support him. Julius Malema destroyed our Motlanthe campaign."

Given that Motlanthe declared that he was running just days before the start of the conference, would it not be fair to say he has himself to blame?

"No," Letsie said emphatically, "Motlanthe is a man of principle. He only announced his availability once he had received a mandate from the branches. You are mandated by the branches, by the people."

Yeah, almost like entering a boxing ring wearing a white suit, sans gloves and gum shield, to paraphrase a cynic attending the conference.

In his organisational report, Mantashe was scathing about the ANC Youth League: "The tendency of the African National Congress Youth League to behave in a manner that is similar to that of forces opposed to the ANC, has translated itself into recklessness when dealing with the ANC as a mother body. This behaviour has cost the movement heavily over time. The incoming NEC [national executive committee] must make it a priority to strengthen the relationship with the ANCYL and ensure that there is dynamic interaction with them."

For Thembi Sibeko of Ebony Park in Gauteng, the trek to Mangaung was twofold: to vote and also to sell ANC-branded paraphernalia which she designed herself - caps, T-shirts, flak jackets, and so on.

She scored on both fronts: her candidate Zuma came out victorious, and when I interviewed her a few hours before the conference closed on Thursday, she had sold items worth around R48000, out of a stock worth R50000 that she and some friends had brought with them.

"Zuma created many opportunities for the likes of me," she told me. "Zuma speeded up the process of providing housing to people like me. I also have neighbours who now have access to water for the first time, thanks to the efforts of Jacob Zuma. The journey towards rebuilding our country will be long and challenging. We know that and are prepared to walk the walk with Msholozi."

The end of the Mangaung conference is such an anticlimax to the national discourse. What are the people going to debate now that Mangaung - an explosive topic at many dinner tables over the past year - has come and gone?

Ah, well, they have a new song to sing, and should analyse and debate its real meaning: Yinde, lendlela esiyihambayo! Y-i-i-i-n-d-e.!!!!