The tribal heart that beats in Zuma's chest

In much the same way as President Jacob Zuma cites his religious convictions as fundamental to his political world view, he acknowledges his traditional beliefs as primary and influential in shaping his outlook.

"My first political influence," he says, "was as a result of the struggles fought by traditional leaders against colonialism. I must confess upfront that both the influence of traditional and liberation struggles have played a big part in shaping the man I am today."

These two personal forces in Zuma's life - religion and tradition - do not always complement each other; often they are in conflict. He blames Christianity, by way of illustration, for the decline of traditional values in African society. But any reservations he might harbour are not about the Christian doctrine itself. Rather, they are about many who advocate that faith, whom he sees as having brought a series of Western values and practices that have done much harm to the African way.

What is the African way, according to Zuma? That is a difficult question to answer definitively. Black consciousness movement leader Steve Biko wrote extensively about what constitutes a "real black"; Zuma, who can claim neither Biko's intellectual clarity nor the courage of his convictions, is generally far more obscure. For Zuma, African tradition is not a philosophical world view, nor is it a cogent set of principles and values. Rather, it is a kind of anecdotal wisdom.

His private life is infused with traditional practice. Prior to the ANC's 2007 Polokwane conference, Zuma went to Impendle in KwaZulu-Natal to be "cleansed". It was reported that a bull was slaughtered and its head thrown into the iNzinga river, after which some 50 virgins washed their hands in the bull's blood. That is one of many such ceremonies in which he has taken part. Constantly, he seeks to appease the traditional forces that he believes exist on the other side of the mortal curtain.

That his particular interpretation of African tradition is subjective is fairly obvious. There is no single, traditional code from which he draws inspiration. Those who argue that he is misrepresenting or misunderstanding particular traditional or cultural practices round on many of the things he advocates. This is one kind of opposition. Another kind comes from those who hold dear a set of constitutional ideals founded on the Bill of Rights. Here the contrast between Zuma's personal traditional convictions and constitutional norms and standards is starker.

The examples are many and various. He has denounced homosexuality, although he later apologised for his remark. He sees women as subservient to men, the consequence of a patriarchal set of values. And he believes certain practices are inherently "black" or "white" or "African".

His attitude towards women is particularly problematic. He can be deeply sexist, patronising and demeaning towards them when in traditional mode. Not only does he have in his mind a stereotype of them as married and the bearers of children, but he believes that their "respect" for men should be physically demonstrable.

This traditional viewpoint affects far more than his relationship with the opposite gender. He sees a definite link between race and tradition - that any black person who abandons traditional ideas in favour of some other set of values has also abandoned some genetic identity bestowed upon him or her by the ancestors themselves, if not by the colour of his or her skin.

He uses the overlap between tradition and religion to his political advantage - not only does he know God's will and claim the ability to interpret it for mortal men, but he is also in touch with the ancestors and able to understand and advocate their political wishes, which, conveniently, always seem to favour the ANC.

Holding them together is a kind of subtle victimhood. For Zuma, South Africans - black South Africans in particular - are not free agents able to discern for themselves their own identity, sexuality and political orientation. Instead, the president would have us believe that archetypes of an ideal he holds in his mind, these supernatural beings, are the ones who guide our actions.

Overseeing all this is Zuma himself - a chief more than a president. He sees himself as head of the South African family, a father figure who, rather than protecting and promoting the space in which people can make choices for themselves, is there to limit that space through compliance with his traditional beliefs. He determines the patronage he is able to dispense as a result of his position by deference, political expediency and loyalty more than by any constitutional concern. Everyone - be they women, children or "clever blacks" - has a predetermined mould into which they should be made to fit, and he is disappointed when they fail to do so.

Notably, for all Zuma's traditional fundamentalism, he has had precious little to say about the darker side of African tradition - witch killings, initiation deaths and muti murders. Quick to determine which race may or may not use hair straightener, he is conveniently silent about these more deadly distortions of African cultural practice. Distortions or not, they exist, they come from somewhere and someone is responsible for them. But reflection and introspection are not part of the Zuma package. In their place is an unwritten set of values to which Zuma alone has access.

This is an edited extract from 'Clever Blacks, Jesus and Nkandla - The Real Jacob Zuma in His Own Words'.