The Zuma frenzy is here to stay – for long

The echoes of former president Jacob Zuma’s first appearance on 18 corruption charges – 16 as an individual and two jointly with French arms company Thales – are set to resound again and again as he launched the first fanfare of his fight against the state.

It is a tribute to Zuma’s political street smarts and not inconsiderable persona in his KwaZulu-Natal stronghold that the chanting hoard outside the high court in Durban yesterday were seemingly of a mind … their man had been set up by the judiciary.

There also seems no logical progression which emerges in the minds of his followers that the charges against Zuma have been tried and tested in the highest courts of the land and been deemed – after interminable delaying tactics – to have foundation.

Zuma’s performance before the crowd had all the nuances of that of a snake charmer. He has a certain inbuilt charisma which can, if you are wrapped up in the hype and smoke and mirrors, be positively spellbinding;
his orchestra the loud voices of encouragement and the defiantly raised fists around him.

Zuma was not asked to plead and is due for a follow-up appearance in court on June 8. But as the public, disheartened by years of the insidious erosive nature of corruption from above, contemplate a new beginning under a new president in Cyril Ramaphosa, one thing emerges crystal-clear from the frenzy around Zuma.

This is a discordant refrain due to be played over and over again as the legal wrangles emerge one after the other – and the Zuma supporters rally yet again.

We all have to reconcile to the fact that even if the proceedings have the appearance of an ill-scripted comic opera, it will be a long, long wait before anything concrete is resolved.

The moveable feast of the Zuma orchestra will guarantee that.