A political dynasty is unfolding

Zuma has ensured the institutions that can be used to bring him to book are under the control of people not interested in the welfare of the rest of the country.

For a long time South Africans have allowed themselves to feel proud of their “exceptionalism”, the feeling of being different from “the rest of Africa”.

And why not? We had clawed our way back from the edge of the precipice: open civil war was averted; the most liberal constitution in the world was in place and the judiciary was there to safeguard it; and to top it all, we elected a world icon to lead our fledgling democracy.

The feeling of exceptionalism felt justified, on paper at least. History was to prove us wrong, though. In our excitement to be considered the continent’s leading light, democratically at least, we had overlooked some pivotal weaknesses in our democratic arrangement.

To put it in the words of former Constitutional Court Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke, we overlooked the fact that our constitution “was designed with a Nelson Mandela in mind”.

We forgot to factor in the possibility that a “non-Mandela” could take over and use every allowance our constitution grants the majority party to shield himself from justice, and, even worse, use the party’s majority to protect misrule and loot state resources.

Mandela famously quipped that most presidents stay in power longer than necessary because they are afraid of going to jail when they descend from the throne.

At the time it was clear he was referring to one Robert Gabriel Mugabe to the north of our border.

Again, our exceptionalism was entrenched. We were the special kids on the block, we could call out the despots on the continent (although selectively).

And later when Mugabe and Zanu-PF anointed his wife Grace to take over the throne when he finally vacates the presidency (probably through natural death) the majority in this country still believed we are exceptional, we would never allow our democracy to descend into a farce of a fake royal political lineage where the incumbent can hand-pick their successor.

That, we believed, only happens in some faraway dictator-led countries in the “rest of Africa”.

And then Jacob Zuma happened to us, and he rudely interrupted our reverie and brought us back to Africa where we rightfully belong.

Not only has he used every available legal opportunity to frustrate this country’s attempt to bring him to court to face charges of past misdeeds, he has ensured the institutions that can be used to bring him to book are under the control of people not interested in the welfare of the rest of the country.

That’s the sort of leadership we used to frown upon when reports came through from other countries on the continent.

Of leaders who allowed their countries to collapse, knowing they can simply board a presidential jet and go and seek better services elsewhere in the world.

But most eerily, we are facing the possibility that our next president could be the current president’s hand-picked candidate. Jose Eduardo dos Santos did the same about a week ago in Angola, as Mugabe is doing in Zimbabwe.

They choose a candidate who will be beholden to them so that their interests are not threatened by their descent from power.

If a royal dynasty’s kind of rule is established in South Africa, our fall from exceptionalism will be complete. And no one will ever be brought to book for our current mess.