Jacob Zuma calls Mugabe ‘monster’

By Violet Gonda
28 November 2006

Jacob Zuma, the man who is widely tipped to succeed Thabo Mbeki as South African president, has spoken out against claims that he is likely to become Africa’s next Robert Mugabe. In an interview with a British newspaper Zuma said; "As a member and a leader of the ANC all I do is carry out ANC policies. How could you have an individual who would become such a monster? The ANC system does not allow for that kind of thing."

Political commentator Dr John Makumbe said; It’s quite surprising that Zuma has spoken like this and calling Mugabe a monster after he has taken white farms in Zimbabwe. He is quite likely to lose the support of the ANC youths and other sections of the ANC who have come very strongly in support of Mugabe.”

However Zuma defended South Africa's policy of "quiet diplomacy" saying "Other people have adopted the policy of criticising Mugabe from a distance, which only makes him more angry. We are the only ones who have engaged him on the issues."

Makumbe disagreed with this saying the West have engaged Mugabe in a rigorous way rather than from a distance. He said; “If anyone is engaging Mugabe from a distance it is in fact South Africa which is really next door.”

The commentator added that South Africa has failed Zimbabwe largely due to the pursuit of this absolutely impotent quiet diplomacy. “They thought it was going to yield something positive even though it has not done. So they seem to be stuck in the mud with regards to - how do you get out of it, how do you get firmer?”

Zuma, who spent 10 years imprisoned with Nelson Mandela, denied that the vast numbers of Zimbabwean economic refugees pouring over the border each day were proof of the policy's failure. "Refugees from Mozambique, Lesotho, Botswana, Swaziland pour into South Africa every day. Zimbabwe is not an exception because there are economic problems in these countries."

When asked whether he supported Mugabe, Zuma said he could not give "a yes or no answer" but on the subject of land reform, he felt that Britain was to blame for the crisis in Zimbabwe, and had not lived up to its promises to fund the process.
Mukambe said this is a typical example of the ignorance out there and that Zuma is just singing the same song.

Makumbe explained that the British gave Zimbabwe more than £36million for land reform but the Mugabe regime failed to account for it. He added; “If we talk about 2000, when the crisis started in earnest, the Zimbabwe government started invading the farms without so much as a word to the British to say ‘if you don’t give us more money we will have to do this.’ He added that there were political reasons for the farm invasions and the beginning of the serious crisis in Zimbabwe, which have nothing to do with the British.”

Makumbe said clearly Zuma is a victim of Mugabe’s propaganda.

As a key member of the liberation struggle, Jacob Zuma has a huge base of support across South Africa. Despite being sacked as deputy president last year over allegations that he accepted bribes from a French arms company, his political career has survived. Earlier in 2006 Zuma was controversially acquitted of raping a 31 year old HIV positive woman with whom he admitted having unprotected sex. And when the corruption charges were also dismissed, the likelihood of success for Jacob Zuma in the 2009 presidential race increased considerably.