Anyone can have tea, why the interest?


By Saki Zamxaka, Director ZarX and Mithasa Consulting.

The national dialogue in the first week of February 2021 was dominated by a meeting between former President Mr. Jacob Zuma; leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters party Mr. Julius Malema; joined by Executive Mayor of Ekurhuleni who ensured that it was known he was attending in his personal capacity, and Mr. Vuyani Pambo a Member of Parliament.  

The meeting was partly arranged through Twitter, a public social media platform and was described as Tea between Mr. Zuma and Mr. Malema. I will limit my discussion to those who are elected public officials, based on the photos and media reports.

All the public officials who attended the Tea Meeting ensured that it was as publicly visible as possible, yet simultaneously refusing to get into the details of it, except the Mayor who informed us that it would realign the political landscape. 

The public and the media were very interested in this meeting, and amongst some of the responses I attempt to respond to in this article were: “Anyone can have tea , why the interest?”, and in an attempt to essentially tell the public to mind their own business; the attendees remarked that the tea was: “hot and sweet”. 

The comment/mantra: “we give politicians too much credit and are too interested in them ” seemingly is often recurring. Let me state a few issues I believe should in fact elicit our interest in this meeting.

Mr. Zuma has had several Constitutional Court challenges, including a recent public announcement stating that he would disregard a constitutional court ruling, something with serious implications on public perception and potentially setting a precedent on how the administration of justice is perceived, whatever the outcome. 

This is a former President who took oath to protect the constitution.  The EFF has around 11 percent representation Nationally, and while this has not rendered them the official opposition party, in municipalities it has garnered them ability to decide, with their minority vote who holds the office of mayor, voting or not voting alongside with the bigger parties.  The significance of the ability of the EFF to influence some public official appointments cannot be ignored and is a trend which may continue.

South Africa has over $300 billion GDP, with government appending over R1.7 trillion, and if COVID 19 has highlighted anything, is that it is the responsibility of public officials to strive to provide a better life for all, which translates to them directing public spending to influence economic performance. This is influence which, during lockdown, meant they could  decide when citizens need to be at places of sleep at night, and several other regulations impacting our lives directly; including the rather important matter of who lives and dies.  

The realignment of politics between an elected representative of a ruling party, a former President, and a leader of a significant opposition party is thus something worth paying attention to.

The management of an economy as many have stated, is primarily creating confidence about the future, and very few economies in the world have institutions which are strong enough to disregard political uncertainty. Shifting political alliances have serious implications on whether mayors will complete their terms, who holds the position of Premier in the future, and therefore the economy and our everyday life.

 It is then naturally not simply the enjoyment of drama which urges people to pay attention to such developments; politicians are probably the most accountable in our society, albeit not in the same way.  Corporate SA has additionally gotten away with very little consequence for their crimes, and the responsibility which leaders have towards citizens cannot be switched off during tea, and then back on after said tea. 

South Africans are beginning to tie how it is that they exercise their democratic rights more closely to how it is that they feel about their country’s performance, and the sooner politicians realise this, the better for their careers perhaps; but I digress, that has nothing to do with me. My interest is not so much the legal issues of the personalities in the meeting, but that they have a responsibility to create stability in these most difficult times.  SA corporates have refused to invest in SA in far better economic and political times; so the decisions to invest in long-term projects will of course be even more difficult in a climate of political instability.

We have seen countries in Europe, once highly industrialised get destabilized by shifting politics, unaccountable mafia and politicians rewarded with political office.  We have also seen this in our own continent. Active citizenry thus must be encouraged more than it is discouraged!

Article Tags

Tea At Nkandla

Jaco Zuma

Julius Malema

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