STEVEN FRIEDMAN: Reports of the president’s omnipotence may be premature
Despite some crowing about the calls for Zuma’s head proving impotent, his opponents within the ANC have not given up on his ouster yet
The president is a master strategist who knows exactly how to humiliate his ANC opponents and to keep them under his thumb. That is why he remains firmly in command and will continue to control the governing party after his term is over. In case you have not guessed, the president in question is Thabo Mbeki and the claims that he was invincible and could do as he pleased are more than a decade old. Mbeki’s strength was already beginning to ebb when he seemed entirely in control. Which is why the claim that Jacob Zuma has seen off all opposition and can choose the next president is more than a little hasty. Of course, parallels with Mbeki do not mean Zuma is sure to face the same fate. But they do question analyses which, having predicted his defeat within days, now say he can do as he pleases. Claims that opposition to Zuma has collapsed ignore the way politics in general, and that of the ANC in particular, works.When the Cabinet reshuffle was criticised by half the ANC’s "top six" ...
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