Lukhona Mnguni from Umbilo, Durban. 17 June, 2011
Hello Zuma, definitely not Dear Mr Zuma. When you took office in 2009, I struggled to address you as President Zuma, however because I pledge enough respect to the office you hold – with time I was able to address you as such.
Let me inform you that, as of yesterday (16 June 2011) I have stopped calling you President Zuma, I will address you as simply Jacob Zuma because you continue to abuse the respect given to you.
On the occasion of 16 June 2011 you dealt a heavy insult, dressed with arrogance and ignorance of the highest order from your part. You behaved like a true politician, the kind of politician that embraces politics before the welfare of the country. Many have tried to defend you to me; they say your actions were due to you trying to secure your bread and butter.
They say that you acted in that shoddy manner because you are trying to buy favour with the ANC Youth League because you know exactly the kind of role they played in bringing you to power in Polokwane ANC Conference 2007. Apparently, you fear these so called ‘young lions’ that is why you are even unable to bring them to book.
You are so scared of these children of yours you cannot even make them tow the line. If anyone suggested that your actions to arrive more than three hours late in Orlando Stadium was because you acted out of respect for the ANCYL, that would be a lie of the highest order.
You are a coward, you cannot be trusted with delivering to the entire nation, and your blood is so devoted to the ANC it is sickening. I can already hear some people defending you, saying that you are a real comrade.
Let me remind you of something. Perhaps let me draw you this picture of inhumanity. We are in the middle of winter for crying out loud. Gauteng happens to be one of the coldest provinces in winter, but you had the audacity to let people endure the cold whilst you were waiting to address ANCYL delegates that were in an enclosed venue.
You preferred to be elitist and prioritise those you believe hold the keys to unlocking the doors of a second term for you in Mangaung come 2012 Conference. Are you serious about your job as the President of South Africa or you are more concerned with being a President of the ANC?
Let me tell you, even there in Orlando Stadium there were ANC members who will be delegates to the 2012 conference, even there in Orlando Stadium, there were ‘young lions’ who do the actual roaring in grassroots structures of the ANC whilst you and the elitists such as Malema sip away on expensive whiskeys, nidla izambane lika pondo eSandton. You opted to address a crowd of less than 6000 and left more than 15 000 South Africans in the cold, waiting for you.
On the other hand, some young people say it was a blessing in disguise that you were late. Many young people who were watching the proceedings on television say that, they are actually pleased you did not show up on time. This is because, they say, you have failed to be inspirational to the youth of South Africa.
Young people say there isn’t an iota of quality that makes them to wish that they want to be like you when they grow up. Young people say you have failed to detail out a vision to address their challenges such as unemployment.
Young people say that you are leading an ANC that actually has people like Sheryl Cwele who have been smuggling drugs, a substance that has caused many families and communities to be dysfunctional. Many young people say that as a public figure you have failed to create a message that the entire country can rally behind.
Young people say that they are tired of listening to you talk because there is nothing new and forward looking in the speeches you articulate. Your lack of vision has rubbed off to those around you and we risk having a completely visionless government. It is like having a Bentley Continental GT being driven by a person with poor eyesight, no matter how great the safety features of the car, it is bound to crash.
You took over a government that was trying – yet faulty – and you failed to consolidate its gains and set it on a new trajectory to ensure that is delivers to our people.
Let me tell you something, in the arena of Political studies we are forever worried about how the lack of separation between the ruling party and the government frustrates the democratisation of the state.
Jacob Zuma you are behaving as if government and South Africa in general belongs to the ANC. You are very mistaken my pseudo-leader, you are actually leaving in dreamland. Let me tell you something; you are a South African before you are an ANC member.
Once you become the president of the country, you are sworn under the South African constitution and not that of the ANC. You are to uphold, first, the values of the South African constitution before you can even begin to pay allegiance to that of the ANC. The ANC is not superior to the country in general. Who the hell do you think you are?
It is adults like you that make us lose respect and we get to be called a disrespectful generation because of how vocal we are when we are dissatisfied. You left the country hanging; you left the nation to shiver in cold because you had to secure your butter. This is what happens when we have politicians who are nothing without organisational positions.
You must be worried what would become of you, were you to leave that office of the ANC President and that of the country. You have failed to craft a legacy for yourself and certainly you will be a couch potato post being president as very few entities and bodies will invite you to address them.
What is Jacob Zuma without the ANC? Surely I cannot ask the reverse question of:
What is the ANC without Jacob Zuma? It probably would be a better party. To add salt to the wound, you stroll in late with Julius Malema by your side. You want to raise Malema to the standard of being the custodian of June 16. You want to create an impression that June 16 is synonymous with the ANC Youth League.
Nothing can be much further from the truth. Those who stood in the Bethal trial because of their involvement in June 16 were PAC members. Those that started to, actively, galvanize schools building up to June 16 were actually struck by the healthy lightning of the Black Consciousness Movement.
The ANC in its 1978/9 conference even admitted how it had failed to seize the ground leading up to 16 June 1976 – if you visit O.R Tambo’s report I am sure you will find it there. No amount of altering history will remove the facts behind Jun 16, no amount of posturing Malema and your cohorts in the ANCYL will actually make June 16 an event that is embedded in the Youth League’s history. Start standing up for something noble, tell the history as it occurred, and stop feeding us dust.
Through your actions of not prioritising the South African youth, you soiled on the history and legacy of June 16. You demeaned and trampled on the blood of those innocent lives that were lost on that sad day of our South African history.
You actually made our struggle towards liberation seem as something that can be exchanged in order to gain political power – clearly, activism like that of the Martyrs of 1976 has been lost. You did the same thing last year in September, at a critical time of heightening the call for Africa to be placed on the global map; you opted to attend the ANC NGC in Durban, instead of going to New York to attend to the United Nations General Assembly.
If we had a President who is not politically vulnerable as you are, surely the work of the nation would continue smoothly. The problem is that we got what we deserved and now we have to live with it, no matter how ugly it is.
You were a mistake in the history of South Africa’s democracy and you continue to vindicate our views, which we held the minute you took charge. You were a tool and not a leader in the eyes of those who ascended you to power. Jacob Zuma you are not a leader worthy to be a president.
You have insulted us young people. The youth of today ought to be taught qualities that are developmental and progressive. Punctuality is one of the things that are at the centre of professionalism. Something that is foreign to you, oh! Great one. You could have made a plan; you could have anticipated the Youth league conference would start late.
You could have asked your Deputy President to address one of the gatherings, but no, you need the entire spotlight right now because you need it to brighten your political future. I pray that come 2012 Conference the ANC will not elect you for a second term you have done enough damage.
In fact, as the youth we should be taking to the streets to demand that we get taken seriously. The lavish life that you live is at the expense of young people who work hard to pay tax. You have shown arrogance of the highest order and the cavalier attitude of yours is going to haunt you in the very near future.
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