JOACOB ZUME: WHAT HAPPENED TO THE TEA PARTY?

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE TEA PARTY?

As South Africa gently burns and looters fill their boots with stolen stuff, let's not forget the people who were really responsible for this mess. South African memories are notoriously short. It was only four short months ago that some of the most influential politicians in the land were making indecent haste to drink tea with Jacob Zuma. We saw the usual rogue's gallery such as Ace Magashule, Tony Yengeni and Carl Niehaus but we also saw Julius Malema, Lindiwe Sisulu and Bheki Cele posting sycophantic selfies with the "big man".

All of these visits happened in the aftermath of his contempt of court when Jacob Zuma should have been shunned, but instead we got smiles and laughter. The man had just told our Deputy Chief Justice that he was biased and he and his commission should go to hell. This was not a stock standard case of of contempt of court, this was a massive f- you to the whole country. Instead of doing what these politicians are paid for and serving the interest of taxpayers, these public representatives chose to pander to a legal miscreant.

What message do you think Zuma got from all of this helmet polishing?

It would be hard for any person, let alone a proven narcissist, not to conclude that he could do whatever he wanted to do. So for the past three months, Zuma has threatened and mocked the country. He has riled up and mobilised his traditional support base and spun the story that he has not being treated fairly despite being given six opportunities to state his case. All this was done with the help of the EFF's Dali Mpofu.

While this was happening, the ANC leadership spent the time trying to appease Zuma instead of supporting DCJ Raymond Zondo or the bulk of the population of South Africa. So here we are with a re-run of the KZN problem that we thought was dealt with in the 1990s.

What makes the situation so much more dangerous, is that this has happened soon after the death of Zulu king, Goodwill Zwelethini, and while there is a power vacuum in the Zulu monarchy. It also happens as Mangosuthu Buthulezi is deep into his nervous nineties. The country now finds itself with a large rural and militant population on the rampage with a government too scared to stop them.

As the country continues to burn, lets not forget the people who delivered the matches to this particular bonfire.