Why African leaders can't be taken seriously: Part III

Last month, if one can imagine, race relations in South Africa hit a new low.

On April 3rd 2010, Eugene TerreBlanche, the country's leading white supremacist, was murdered by two of his farm workers.  Supporters of his said they would seek vengeance on greater South Africa for his murder and have warned nations not to send their athletes to the upcoming 2010 World Cup Football Games to be held there.

In the context of the murder, Mr. Julius Malema, the controversial leader of the ANC's youth league and potential future leader of the ANC party, attempted to seek short-term political gain by repeating in public an old ANC song; which if taken literally, calls for the killing of Afrikaners.  Since the end of apartheid in 1994, more than 3,000 white farmers are estimated to have been murdered.  South African courts have ruled that the song is an incitement to violence and illegal.

Malema then visited Harare, Zimbabwae, where he linked arms with Robert Mugabe, the country’s incompetent and bigoted dictator, and declared his own demands for nationalizing South Africa's mining industry and confiscating the land of white farmers, just as Mugabe had done.

 

South Africa's problems with this dunce do not end there.  In an interview with International journalists at ANC headquarters in Johannesburg, Malema publicly accusing BBC reporter, Jonah Fisher, of exhibiting "white tendency" then calling him a "bastard", "bloody agent" and "small boy".  The BBC reporter was then told by Malema to leave the press conference.

According to the Guardian UK newspaper, the dispute between Mr. Malema and the reporter began when:

Malema, who has just returned from Zimbabwe, praised Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party and poured scorn on the "Mickey Mouse" opposition. He mocked exiles linked to the Movement for Democratic Change, led by Zimbabwe's prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, for using offices in Sandton, a wealthy suburb of Johannesburg.

Current South African President, Jacob Zuma, who I have ridiculed for his corruption and incompetence (here), was forced to publicly rebuke his unstable lieutenant; although in the meekest of terms.  Feckless ANC leaders condemned Zuma for merely saying that leaders must “think before they speak, as their utterances have wider implications for the country.”  Bloomberg news service is reporting,

Malema’s supporters will tell Zuma at an ANC national working committee meeting scheduled for April 19 that he was wrong to reprimand Malema in public... The ANC is divided on the issue and Zuma’s actions will be defended by the party’s military veterans association and the ANC Women’s League president, it said.

What future can South Africa have, when such flamboyantly idiotic and incompetent leaders are posed to seize control of the nation?

Why African leaders cannot be taken seriously (Part II)

The nation of South Africa has an enormous number of societal and economic problems.  Many of these problems emanate from the country's racial divide: poor education, inferior infrastructure and development, rising poverty, inadequate public health management, and extraordinary levels of criminality.   An estimated 5.4 million people have HIV-AIDS; the largest of any nation.  The disease coupled with inadequate educational resources reduces the supply of skilled workers and prevents an indigenous professional class from arising from the blighted masses.  Rape, homicide, and criminality are at epidemic levels.  The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime ranked South Africa (circa. 2000), "Second for assault and murder (by all means) per capita and first for rapes per capita" on a global level.

In terms of business practices, "corruption is rife in the granting of government contracts. Bribery thrives at the central government level, as exemplified by the high-profile procurement scandals that have been exposed within the last decade. Many companies also cite the procurement of goods for private companies as an activity likely to involve bribery."

Given that there are no shortage of problems to address, it is of great wonder how the current President Jacob Zuma, a Zulu traditionalist who practices polygamy, found time to marry his fifth wife on the 4 January 2010.  As the photograph illustrates, Mr. Zuma has no shame in dressing in traditional native attire and prancing about to the merriment of his betrothed and ethnic community.  His personal history prior to becoming South Africa's President is also very colorful.  According to Wikipedia,

Zuma has faced significant legal challenges. He was charged with rape in 2005, but was acquitted. In addition, he fought a long legal battle over allegations of racketeering and corruption, resulting from his financial advisor Schabir Shaik's conviction for corruption and fraud. On 6 April 2009, the National Prosecuting Authority decided to drop the charges citing political interference.

As usual, these African leaders always have time to indulge in what their immediate tastes desire.  Their ridiculous personal lives and corrupt governmental practices, that benefit both themselves and politically aligned cronies, confirms the reality that few, if any, African leaders can be taken seriously on matters of governance.

Why African Leaders Cannot be taken Seriously

Spread across the African continent there are tyrants, military dictators, and kleptomaniac authoritarians. Every odious and repulsive trait that can be imagined in the pantheon of incompetent and venal leadership has been exhibited in the post-colonial heads of state that represent the nations of the continent. Given human nature, (ie. tribalism, corruption, greed, sloth, and short-term thinking) I don't suspect there to be any change for the better soon or for that matter ever.

As an example, consider Libya's Col. Qaddafi's first and maybe last visit to the United Nations in New York, where the Guardian UK described him as, "fully [living] up to his reputation for eccentricity, bloody-mindedness and extreme verbiage."

He tore up a copy of the UN charter in front of startled delegates, accused the security council of being an al-Qaida like terrorist body, called for George Bush and Tony Blair to be put on trial for the Iraq war, demanded $7.7tn in compensation for the ravages of colonialism on Africa, and wondered whether swine flu was a biological weapon created in a military laboratory. At one point, he even demanded to know who was behind the killing of JFK. All in all, a pretty ordinary 100 minutes in the life of the colonel.

Then he gave praise to that magnanimous and generous Kenyan President, Barack Obama:

Having thus abused and alienated 99.99% of the world's top diplomats, he suddenly changed tack, heaping praise and devotion on the one man he appears to respect. "Now the black man doesn't have to sit in the back of the bus, the American people made him president and we are proud of that. We would be happy if Obama stayed president of America forever."

I'm sure Hugo Chavez, another miltary man in populace garbs, was taking points on how to make friends and alienate gringos.