FRED KHUMALO: Adios joker Jakes, hello Ace
I was amazed at how much Berliners know about such South Africans as Ace Magashule, who is not even the president
There was a time during my peregrinations overseas — especially in the US — when I avoided journalists and academics because they had this tendency to organise a gathering, sometimes without my prior approval of the terms of engagement, where I would be expected to give a talk about Jacob Zuma. They asked such crazy questions as: what is he up to now, and what does it mean in the larger scheme of things? Is he going to change the constitution? His departure was a relief. I know I wasn’t the only local journo who got hijacked in this manner. I also know that Zuma’s departure was a blow to those of my intellectual friends who like a healthy dose of schadenfreude in their conversation. In my sojourn in Berlin this past weekend I discovered that the intellectuals there have a new whipping boy: Ace Magashule. Who is this chap? Where did he come from? Is he as corrupt as the media claims? I was happy the questions weren’t directed at me but at a fellow South African who is based in the Ge...
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