Helen Zille's faction/embittered approach to politics normally grinds my turkey, but a paragraph in her most recent weekly newsletter stood out as being congruent with my stance on Zuma's ascension to power:
Zuma was not elected ANC leader because he showed any of these qualities. He was elected because a powerful populist/leftist lobby in the party saw in Zuma their opportunity to get rid of Mbeki’s economic centrism and his tendency to centralise power. In fact, the ANC populists elected Zuma precisely because of his lack of leadership. They believe this will enable them to manipulate him. What they do not understand is that an easily manipulated leader is open to all offers, and often sold to the highest bidder. Zuma’s honeymoon with his senior political brides, COSATU and the SACP, is already running into trouble.
