GARETH VAN ONSELEN: Zuma’s done another Terrible Thing

President Jacob Zuma has done another Terrible Thing. It is the latest in a long list of Terrible Things he has done, but probably the most Terrible Thing because it comes against the backdrop of all those other despicable acts he has committed. It confirms that he is an embarrassment to our democracy and the proud history of the ANC. Also, that he should resign.

The consequences of this latest Terrible Thing are clear to see. It will divide the ANC, stall service delivery and undermine the fragile state of our economy, most likely resulting in a catastrophic financial meltdown. It is truly terrible.

In turn, the Terrible Thing benefits the president and his inner circle directly, and puts his own interests above the interests of the country. It holds both the ANC and our democracy hostage to the President’s personal agenda.

It is clear too, that this latest Terrible Thing is illegal and a violation of our Constitution. Zuma has said the ANC is "more important" than the Constitution. And his lawyers have obviously not read it. So it represents another chance for our judiciary to demonstrate that it is the last line of defence against his malevolence.

The Terrible Thing has forced the opposition to table a motion of no confidence in the president. It is the 56th such motion brought against Zuma. It has also laid a complaint with a Chapter Nine institution, the police, tabled questions in parliament, started a petition and is scheduled to hold a rally about the Terrible Thing. It set all this out in a statement.

But Zuma has inevitably defended the Terrible Thing as no more than an "allegation" and set up some interminable process to probe its consequences; one that is ill equipped to arrive at a satisfactory outcome. The process will cost R20m. It is to be headed by someone who seems beholden to Zuma; an impression that may or may not be proven but which is likely to dominate coverage.

Zuma says, "I serve the Constitution and am elected by the people. When the people decide I have failed, they will vote against me. People complain about this Terrible Thing but time will show it is not terrible and that others, who I am watching, are in fact the terrible ones."

Terrible Things are sometimes necessary

—  President Jacob Zuma

The president’s formal statement was released a week after the Terrible Thing was first revealed, during which time he was damned for being out of touch and detached. However, he did allude to it yesterday, in an informal speech to ANC voters in KwaZulu-Natal, in which he said in the vernacular, "Terrible Things are sometimes necessary."

The Presidency says this statement was misinterpreted and taken out of context.

Thus, this latest Terrible Thing will soon join the long list of other Terrible Things he has done, before we move on to some new terrible act he has committed.

The ANC has described the Terrible Thing as "not that terrible", and warned against exaggeration in the media and hidden agendas. It has welcomed the process set up by the president but dismissed all the evidence available as mere "speculation". It supports President Zuma but does not necessarily support his actions. It has thus outsourced its ability to arrive at a moral position to the process initiated by President Zuma.

The SACP has spoken out against divisions and the "demon of factionalism". As has Cosatu. Both support a faction inside the ANC.

The head of the ANC Women’s League has accused the media of being run by a foreign power. The head of the ANC Youth League has accused the opposition of being run by white monopoly capital. The head of the ANC Military Veterans has accused ANC stalwarts, critical of the president, of being run by former president Thabo Mbeki.

ANC stalwarts have meantime said the president is terrible, so naturally he will do terrible things. They apologised for getting him elected, at which time they thought he was fantastic, but now wish to be on the right side of history and undo the damage they have done by having a march to help get him unelected.

If that is successful, they then wish to have a defining say in determining who the next president should be.

Analysts are united in their opinion that this latest Terrible Thing, coming on the back of so many other Terrible Things, is the final straw and will now inextricably lead to Zuma’s demise. They believe he has burnt up all his political capital and the end is near. They also believe the ANC is fundamentally divided and on the verge of collapse.

They believe the ANC will now lose the next national election.

—  They also believe the ANC is fundamentally divided and on the verge of collapse

Some commentators, loyal to the president but outside the ANC, have attributed criticism to racism, saying it is only white people who attack the president and that he is in fact a champion of the poor. A number of these commentators receive government money.

When asked about the Terrible Thing in Parliament on Monday, the Minister in the Presidency laughed, before talking about Oliver Tambo and suggesting this latest Terrible Thing should not detract from attempts to honour Tambo’s legacy. In response, the Speaker granted a special debate on how many houses the ANC has delivered since 1994.

Speaking at a memorial lecture, ANC presidential candidate Cyril Ramaphosa refused to take a position on the Terrible Thing but rather promoted the idea of an official forum to "talk our problems through". His rival for the ANC presidency, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, said at a different memorial lecture that she thought "good neighbourliness" was important.

Markets responded poorly to the Terrible Thing. But then recovered. The opposition said the damage had cost billions. The ANC said the recovery created 10,000 new jobs.

It is expected that President Zuma will reshuffle the Cabinet in response to the Terrible Thing, with anyone who is not on board concerning its necessity shuffled out, and everyone who supports it shuffled in. ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said he expected to be consulted beforehand but he might not be. He said that if he were, this would be great but if not, he would probably complain about it before then apologising for complaining.

The ANC national executive committee is set to discuss the Terrible Thing. However, if asked, the ANC will deny this.

Twitter was set alight by the new Terrible Thing, and #TerribleThing trended for four days, until it was overtaken by #TerribleFirstDates. A number of news stories summarised the outrage by quoting random tweets as if representative of the national mood. One such tweet was racist. This then elicited a second series of stories about racism.

The opposition has also taken the Terrible Thing to court. A date for the first hearing has been set down for March 21 2025. This week Zuma is in court in relation to some other Terrible Thing.

• With apologies to Broti Gupta and Karen Chee