In politics “who’s now” is never as exciting a topic as “who’s next.” Thus at Business Day Peter Bruce argues (not at all convincingly) that South Africa is looking at another Polokwane moment when the current leadership is bound to be overthrown for someone else. Of course the ANC will not choose its next president (and thus almost assuredly the country’s next president) until December 2012 when the party meets in Bloemfoentein. And while Bruce maintains that Zuma “is so evidently not suited for the job he has that the subject of his future was being discussed long before he even became president,” I think he asserts rather than argues.
Yes, Julius Malema, the vociferous and controversial head of the ANC Youth League, has been targeting Zuma of late. But Malema is not without his own challengers and he may not be the kingmaker many have tagged him to be. And most of the rest of Bruce’s arguments are unconvincing. He claims that Zuma should step down but gives absolutely no indication as to why the sitting president of a country who is not under direct challenge beyond those of any democracy would do so. This piece seems to have bloomed in the hothouse environment of a column deadline rather than from a reflection of actual political realities today, never mind eighteen months from now.