Zuma is in the arena again. A convicted liar charging hard at his previous comrades; liars like Fikile Mbalula, Paul Mashatile, et al. Julius Malema, another card-carrying member of the LIARS CLUB might just find himself in a firestorm which he did not start. It is already clear that we will have the LIARS CLUB dominating the election in South Africa this year.
Maybe Zuma’s return, as a convicted criminal [ Trump-like] will underline the powerful impact of the Law of Unintended Consequences = Every action has a predicted consequence — along with side-effects not foreseen. [The term was popularised in the twentieth century by American sociologist Robert Merton.]
Unintended consequences can be:
An Unexpected benefit: Some unexpected positive outcome. The benefit here will be that his party’s participation in the election will actually advance democracy in South Africa by breaking the ANC stranglehold on power.
A Perverse result: A perverse effect contrary to what was originally intended by Ramaphosa’s wingmen [when an intended solution, like forcing Zuma to resign the Presidency, makes a problem worse]. In a perverse way democracy is the beneficiary here. Zuma’s MKP is now grabbing ANC voters by the thousands, so Zuma may actually be the final nail in the ANC coffin – a perverse result for the ruling party, but an unexpected benefit for democracy – and I am sure the latter was not part of Zuma’s grand strategy.
WHY DO I REJOICE?
Because the ANC hold on power will be decisively broken, but Zuma & Kie will not have enough power to be anywhere near forming a National Government.
I never thought I would be happy with Zuma, the sequel, BUT Zuma is actually strengthening democracy with his sledgehammer party. I am sure that’s not what Zuma intended, but in a perverse way, he is sending the LAW OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES in full force as a major attendee to the 30th celebration party of South African Democracy.
NEWS 24 says this about Zuma’s party:
“Now he is back in business after forcing the ANC's hand to suspend him, being trotted out to rallies by the MKP from Cato Ridge to Alexandra, spewing populist drivel that undermines the Electoral Commission of South Africa and democracy. He is campaigning on homophobia and false rhetoric of wanting a two-thirds majority to change the Constitution to be "African-orientated", whatever that means.”
New polling indicates that in less than 4 months MKP has halved the ANC support in KwaZulu to 25% whilst polling at 24%, and nationally some polling would us believe MKP has already reached 9% - devastating news for both the ANC and the EFF.
As Dr. Jan Marais, founder of Trust Bank remarked to me after the first democratic elections in1994, which he totally embraced; “Put your seatbelts on, there is going to be a lot of turbulence.” – courtesy of the Liars Clubà la Fight Club, the movie.
Who would have thought that kicking Zuma out of the Presidency would result in members of the LIARS CLUB facing one another off in a brutal & consequential election, where democracy just might be walking away with the crown. You might be inclined to say, “What a lovely piece of fiction”, to paraphrase movie critic Barry Ronge, but the liars are going full throttle at one another, so from the bulldozing and the earth-shattering collisions, this election might just open an opportunity for renewal – entirely not intended by the members of the LIARS CLUB.
THE NEW SOUTH AFRICA 2.0 may be around the corner after all.