Five jaw-dropping moments from Jacob Zuma’s presidency

As many South Africans bid farewell to President Jacob Zuma, we rounded up a list of some of the most memorable moments of his presidency.

1. The Nkandla Scandal

The Nkandla Scandal is likely to be remembered as one of the key mistakes in Zuma’s presidency. Zuma’s homestead in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal, received upgrades to the tune of R246 million, which caused a massive public outcry. The upgrades included security improvements, a visitor’s centre, a cattle kraal and the now infamous ‘fire pool’.

Former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s report titled Secure in Comfort, which was published in 2014, found that Zuma had unduly benefited from the upgrades. Two years later, the Constitutional Court ordered that Zuma pay back R7.8 million for the upgrades.

2. Nenegate

The firing of former Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene led to an unprecedented media storm, which resulted in South Africa having three different finance ministers within the space of a few days. On 9 December 2015 Nene was replaced as finance minister by the relatively unknown David van Rooyen, causing the rand to plummet. A public outcry ensued and Van Rooyen was replaced by Pravin Gordhan just four days later. At the time, Zuma said he had, ‘received many representations to reconsider his decision’.

3. The number debacle

In a 2015 speech at the African National Congress’s National General Council meeting, Zuma fumbled over the number of members in the ANC. Although he intended to highlight the decrease in membership, the number was not understood by many and the video went viral. Zuma, however, took it in his stride by doing a little jig before continuing with the next figures.

https://twitter.com/Son_of_Batman90/status/942816000948559872

4. Another vote of no confidence

In August last year, Zuma escaped a motion of no confidence once again. The motion, which was held by secret ballot, was the eighth against Zuma. The secret ballot was a new addition following a lengthy battle that resulted in the National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete announcing that it would be permissible. The final results of the ballot indicated that 177 members of parliament had voted for him to be removed with 198 voting for him to remain. The motion also indicated that 26 members of his party had voted against him.

5. #ZumaMustFall

The #ZumaMustFall marches saw thousands of South Africans from around the country gathering to protest Zuma’s presidency. Marches in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Pretoria saw opposition parties and civil society organisations using the opportunity to garner support against Zuma. The marches were in reaction to the firing of Pravin Gordhan as finance minister, just two years after he had been appointed [See Nenegate].

What do you think we should add to the list? Share your thoughts on the Rosebank Killarney Gazette Facebook page.

Also read:

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