It is difficult to tell whether President Jacob Zuma any longer understands the concept of truth. Perhaps he has invoked some sort of self-protection mechanism that causes such a distortion of reality that he is convinced of the untruths he utters, even in parliament.
How else do you explain Zuma saying this week when confronted by the opposition about the dismal state of the economy: "There is no economy that is collapsing in the hands of the ANC. Since 1994, the ANC has grown this economy."
Is it possible that the president just did not understand what his finance minister was saying last week in the medium-term budget policy statement - in the very house where he was arguing that the economy was growing?
Malusi Gigaba made a point of saying that it was neither in the public interest nor in the interest of the government to "to sugarcoat the state of our economy and the challenges we are facing".
He did so before announcing that economic growth projections had been revised downwards from 1.3% to 0.7% for 2017.What does Zuma think those numbers mean?
He dozed off periodically during the speech and might not have heard what Gigaba was saying, but the statement and budget data were presented to him and members of cabinet before they were made public.
There was nothing in the speech but bad news about the country's economic performance.
This is a straightforward matter, backed up with hard facts and statistics. It is not open to interpretation.
It is precisely for that reason that we should examine the altered state of reality in which Zuma exists - a DalÍ-inspired parallel universe where R1-million a month paid to him can vanish into the ether and fraud and corruption are nebulous concepts.
In Zuma's universe, you can probably cheat your cholesterol test by sucking in your tummy.
When the State Security Agency issued a cease-and-desist letter to the publishers of Jacques Pauw's seminal book The President's Keepers on Friday, it was a desperate attempt to keep up the pretence that the presidential machinery still has legitimacy.
The book exposes how the collusion between the dark state and the president's paymasters has effectively hijacked the democratic system to the point where the constitution and the law have been wholly undermined.
There is no way for Zuma and his acolytes to dispute the contents without further exposing their chamber of secrets.
Therefore, to contain the fallout, the State Security Agency's lawyer has demanded that the book be withdrawn on the grounds that some parts "constitute a violation of the relevant intelligence statutes and thus compromise the security of the state".
If the publishers were to comply, with 20000 books already distributed and 10000 more making their way to bookstores, the assumption is that the evidence can simply be buried and Zuma will continue to give ridiculous responses to questions.
When DA leader Mmusi Maimane asked Zuma if he had been on the payroll of a security company in the first few months of his presidency, as alleged in Pauw's book, he denied it, adding: "I don't think my job is to answer books."
He could have added that he cannot be bothered to read books, just as he is unruffled by the mountain of accusations of criminality and unethical conduct. Zuma has become accustomed to fobbing off serious allegations against him as if he is a private citizen and nobody is entitled to know his business.
He has also mastered how to cheat accountability mechanisms...