CHRIS THURMAN: Belgians know big men rulers and have little time for Zuma
Jacob Zuma, the just judges are coming for you
Following the current affairs of one’s country from afar is an awkward business. The sense of disconnection is severe. Then there is the withering effect of remembering that phenomena so readily taken for granted at home are, viewed from a distance, grotesque absurdities. Imagine being stuck in traffic on the outskirts of Ghent, a busy city midway between Brussels and the Belgian coast, listening to the midday bulletin on a local radio station. Imagine a newsreader speaking in Flemish, a language so similar to Afrikaans it sounds like a pretentious cousin. The headline item? A motion of no confidence tabled in SA’s Parliament against President Jacob Zuma. Belgium is no stranger to callous, greedy or vicious leaders who considered themselves above the law. Some have fared better here than others. Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo. Kaiser Wilhelm II and Adolf Hitler, pitted against their Allied counterparts, turned the country into a bloody, muddy mess. From an African perspective the...
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