Zuma documentary to air

The doccie takes viewers on Zuma’s difficult journey to the highest office of his newly liberated country.

Born into poverty during apartheid, his survival skills are prominent as he overcomes controversy and scandal, to continue his reign as President. Zuma is a young Zulu herd boy, with no formal education, who is stirred into a political awakening by stories of local rebellions and socialist revolutions in distant corners of the world. His involvement in the 1950’s Defiance Campaign leads to a life as a revolutionary, with over a decade spent incarcerated on the notorious prison island, Robben Island, where he learns to read and write.

He is in the prime of his life in exile, often personally in danger, building the military and intelligence forces of the armed wing of the African National Congress, an organisation fighting for one man, one vote in apartheid South Africa. The ANC’s return to South Africa to sue for freedom brings him home, as a veteran party leader.

But it is here, after the liberation movement ends its war, that his real troubles start. His accession to power is fraught with controversy and scandal. He falls out with at least two of his closest comrades, he is tainted by corruption, he is fired, and his polygamy and infidelities outrage the conservative centre.

But his canny survival skills, his sophisticated legal team, and long-standing connections with intelligence networks, help him survive as President, leader of the majority party, still in 2014 holding the levers of power.

The documentary wil be repeated on Wednesday, 23 July 2014 at 1:30PM.