It was almost as if Thursday’s late-night Cabinet reshuffle hadn’t happened as President Jacob Zuma strode into a packed-to-capacity tent in the rural town of Mbizana in the Eastern Cape on Friday morning. Zuma was in a jovial mood‚ as thousands of people welcomed him with open arms. He was in town to launch the Mbizana Regional Enterprise Development hub at the Dyifanai village. The throngs of people who converged for the event seemed oblivious to widespread condemnation of the President’s decision to make 20 changes to his Cabinet — including controversially firing Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and his deputy, Mcebisi Jonas, in a midnight Cabinet reshuffle on Thursday. Some villagers‚ probably unaware of such developments‚ we’re seen on horseback wearing ANC T-shirts emblazoned with Zuma’s face. As he got up to speak‚ the crowd rose to its feet burst into rapturous applause‚ and then started singing Zuma’s trademark song, Umshini’wam. However, Zuma steered away from speaking abo...
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