Last week a judge made a pretty big decision here in South Africa. I thought, at the time, you know, I should write something about this, but I was kinda fuzzy on the details and what do you think I am, a reporter? I’m way too busy lurking around the blogosphere to conduct research! However - though I’m still not 100% on the specifics - I think it’s worth mentioning. Plus, you’re probably sick of all the political drama on the home front and you might enjoy a bit of gossip about the oh-so-respectable leaders of this country I call home.
So here goes…
Jacob Zuma, the president of the African National Congress and probably the next president of South Africa, had a good friend named Schabir Shaik. Three years ago, Shaik was convicted of fraud and corruption in connection was a multi-billion dollar arms deal. Now during the trial, it became clear that Zuma had accepted large sums of money from this joker. The judge declared that the relationship between the two of them was “mutually beneficial.” Yep, South Africa’s next president and a known arms dealer. Nice.
So with all this proof, you’d think Zuma would go down too, right? But not so. At least not yet. It’s been one delay after another, with charges dropped, then brought again, then delayed (and of course there was that pesky rape trial that Zuma had to contend with), then – as of last Friday – a judge "declared the decision to prosecute him on fraud and corruption charges invalid".
That morning (before the judge made the decision), a scrolling headline on SKY news read: “Judge’s decision could cause chaos in South Africa.” I asked Roger what he thought might happen. After all, we’d already suffered through the uncertainty of a potential black hole swallowing us up earlier that week, so I wanted to know what to expect in this regard. Roger explained that Zuma’s involvement in the scandal was so clear cut that a judge would only drop the charges if he was being blackmailed or bribed. He said people would be outraged if the charges were dismissed.
I countered that the people who would be outraged by a decision to drop the charges weren’t exactly the types to cause “chaos,” you know, the rioting and looting type of chaos. People truly outraged by government corruption tend to be the more law abiding types, right? Wouldn’t there be more chaos if the charges weren’t dropped? I mean, despite Zuma’s questionable character, he has many devoted fans and followers. I was more worried about chaos ensuing if the court was brave enough to uphold the charges…
But alas, the prosecution was declared invalid, and as far as I can tell, the people Roger thought would be so outraged are taking it pretty well. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by their seeming complacency. I mean, how are upstanding citizens supposed to react to an obviously corrupt government? Well, they’re certainly not protesting or rioting or looting. Instead, they’re just leaving. Now more than ever, South Africans (1 in 3 according to this article) are seriously considering leaving the country. They’re leaving in droves to go to Australia or New Zealand or the UK. (It’s never to the US, nobody likes the US anymore, didn’t you hear?) Anyway, I’m not sure what it all means, but there you have it. So now you can stop obsessing about the upcoming US election, because either way, our next president can’t be as bad as this joker.
So here goes…
Jacob Zuma, the president of the African National Congress and probably the next president of South Africa, had a good friend named Schabir Shaik. Three years ago, Shaik was convicted of fraud and corruption in connection was a multi-billion dollar arms deal. Now during the trial, it became clear that Zuma had accepted large sums of money from this joker. The judge declared that the relationship between the two of them was “mutually beneficial.” Yep, South Africa’s next president and a known arms dealer. Nice.
So with all this proof, you’d think Zuma would go down too, right? But not so. At least not yet. It’s been one delay after another, with charges dropped, then brought again, then delayed (and of course there was that pesky rape trial that Zuma had to contend with), then – as of last Friday – a judge "declared the decision to prosecute him on fraud and corruption charges invalid".
That morning (before the judge made the decision), a scrolling headline on SKY news read: “Judge’s decision could cause chaos in South Africa.” I asked Roger what he thought might happen. After all, we’d already suffered through the uncertainty of a potential black hole swallowing us up earlier that week, so I wanted to know what to expect in this regard. Roger explained that Zuma’s involvement in the scandal was so clear cut that a judge would only drop the charges if he was being blackmailed or bribed. He said people would be outraged if the charges were dismissed.
I countered that the people who would be outraged by a decision to drop the charges weren’t exactly the types to cause “chaos,” you know, the rioting and looting type of chaos. People truly outraged by government corruption tend to be the more law abiding types, right? Wouldn’t there be more chaos if the charges weren’t dropped? I mean, despite Zuma’s questionable character, he has many devoted fans and followers. I was more worried about chaos ensuing if the court was brave enough to uphold the charges…
But alas, the prosecution was declared invalid, and as far as I can tell, the people Roger thought would be so outraged are taking it pretty well. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by their seeming complacency. I mean, how are upstanding citizens supposed to react to an obviously corrupt government? Well, they’re certainly not protesting or rioting or looting. Instead, they’re just leaving. Now more than ever, South Africans (1 in 3 according to this article) are seriously considering leaving the country. They’re leaving in droves to go to Australia or New Zealand or the UK. (It’s never to the US, nobody likes the US anymore, didn’t you hear?) Anyway, I’m not sure what it all means, but there you have it. So now you can stop obsessing about the upcoming US election, because either way, our next president can’t be as bad as this joker.
And like I said, I’m no reporter, but I did do a little research and found this timeline extremely helpful.
And according to this article, it looks like Zuma may still find himself in court…we’ll see.
1 comment:
Your perspective is just what I needed...I have been so anxious over our pending election that I can't seem to calm down.
Well-written, as ALWAYS.
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