The magnitude of the last 12 months since ‘NeneGate’ rocked the nation cannot be underestimated. Whilst Marikana some three years earlier had jolted the nation out of its post-Liberation innocence as police actions uncannily resembled that of the Apartheid years; NeneGate’s effect was ultimately to undermine faith in leadership – particularly in the office of the President. The damage done to President Zuma was such that it simply has not been undone. NeneGate had multiple effects. Clearly, it introduced into our political lexicon, the term ‘state capture’. Whilst the Gupta’s had loomed large for some time, their alleged involvement in a plan to take control of the key Ministry of Finance brought both the family and the term into popular conversation. It created an awareness hitherto on the backburner of conversation. The heavy-handed way in which President Zuma exercised his authority in dismissing Nene sent markets and the Rand reeling. It was a jolt to the collective nation and...
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