Supporters of Jacob Zuma at Alberts Park, Durban, on 5 April 2018, the night before the reopening of his corruption trial in the city. Picture: Yeshiel Panchia
It’s a hot, muggy, evening in Alberts Park, Durban, and the mosquitoes are a’biting as supporters of Jacob Zuma stream into the bedraggled park.
Unkempt it may be, but the singing of protest songs – some old (mshini wam, mshini wam), some new (voetsek, leave Zuma alone) – breathe life into the heavy air.
It’s all part of the Hands off Zuma campaign, in support of the second South African president who did not complete a full second term.
Two organisations have made their voices heard tonight.
One, the National Interfaith Council of South Africa (Nicsa) led by Bishop Vusimuzi Dube, said on Thursday everyone needed a little prayer, even Zuma.
Nicsa was joined by a plethora of smaller organisations uniting as a loose coalition of “business forums. For them, Zuma’s alignment – in the dying months of his reign – with a loosely defined plan called radical economic transformation (RET) is what drew them to the cause of the beleaguered ex-president.
Supporters of Jacob Zuma at Alberts Park, Durban, on 5 April 2018, the night before the reopening of his corruption trial in the city. Picture: Yeshiel Panchia
“People must not be afraid of transformation, they must rather join us and help us achieve economic transformation,” said Elvis Simamane of Struggle of a Special Type.
He, and colleague Phindi Hlope, are not necessarily spokespeople of the coalition, but rather attendees.
The complicated legal wrangling and savage politicking over allegations of Zuma being involved with state capture mean little to them and their friends and family eking out a living in South Africa’s harsh economic climate.
It’s now that matters, says Hlope.
“We’re not sure about Zuma’s guilt. We can’t comment on it. It hasn’t been proven yet. He hasn’t been found guilty yet,” Hlope says.
Supporters of Jacob Zuma at Alberts Park, Durban, on 5 April 2018, the night before the reopening of his corruption trial in the city. Picture: Yeshiel Panchia
Simamane adds that, for them, RET means sharing in businesses, and isn’t just about the money.
“As Africans, we’ve had fewer opportunities to participate in the economy. Now, since Zuma has spoken about RET, and the land, people in parliament are talking about it,” Simamane says.
Losing arable land for many people was a generational loss; a disconnection from a centuries-old way of life. They have lost institutional knowledge, he says.
“We’re not saying we want to kick farmers off the land. We’re saying, ‘work with us, teach us how to farm again’, because people today have been given land and they plant things, but nothing grows.”
It’s a steep learning curve Simamane is certain will help alleviate poverty in a country where more than a third of its people are unemployed, and children are growing up stunted due to poor diet.
Back in the day, families were born, lived, died and were buried next to the previous generation.
It still happens today, albeit on a massively smaller scale.
It’s mostly due to urbanisation, a growing population and the conflict between the steady reliable old ways and the shiny attractions of the bright city life – not to mention our brutal past of colonialism and apartheid.
Supporters of Jacob Zuma at Alberts Park, Durban, on 5 April 2018, the night before the reopening of his corruption trial in the city. Picture: Yeshiel Panchia
Yes, says Hlope, it’s not only “the land” – a phrase that has many pale necks turning a brighter shade of red in frustration and fear. People want to participate, and contribute, to the economic wealth of the country.
As South Africa’s economy has ground ever slower, company shareholders have demanded ever-higher returns on their investments to keep their nests well padded, and company loyalty on the part of an employee facing the economic chop has meant little.
A relatively new refrain can be heard in the office moles’ corridors: I’m doing the work of three people!
“We want to be in the construction industry, so we can learn and then start our own companies where we can pass those skills on to others.”
Simamane says construction is only a “for instance”, and there are myriad places Africans can, and will, contribute, eventually passing their skills on.
It is this, he feels, that epitomises ubuntu (I am who I am through others).
Supporters of Jacob Zuma at Alberts Park, Durban, on 5 April 2018, the night before the reopening of his corruption trial in the city. Picture: Yeshiel Panchia
“We all have to work,” says Hlope, acknowledging the reality of RET.
Be it rural or urban, skills development is critical, Simamane says.
“Don’t be scared of RET. Join us instead.”
In Africa, it is said, an event is blessed by rain.
And as the clouds open with a gentle shower after some angry thunder and lightning, perhaps Hlope and Simamane’s ideas may take root, far from the angry recent rhetoric of “slitting the throat of whiteness”.
Supporters of Jacob Zuma at Alberts Park, Durban, on 5 April 2018, the night before the reopening of his corruption trial in the city. Picture: Yeshiel Panchia
Supporters of Jacob Zuma at Alberts Park, Durban, on 5 April 2018, the night before the reopening of his corruption trial in the city. Picture: Yeshiel Panchia
Supporters of Jacob Zuma at Alberts Park, Durban, on 5 April 2018, the night before the reopening of his corruption trial in the city. Picture: Yeshiel Panchia
Supporters of Jacob Zuma at Alberts Park, Durban, on 5 April 2018, the night before the reopening of his corruption trial in the city. Picture: Yeshiel Panchia
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