8/12/2019 A Question of Leadership - The Economist 14 Dec 2013

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A question of leadership

Nelson Mandela set a standard that his successors have struggled to matchThe Economist - Dec 14th 2013

AS THE days passed and the news sunk in that Nelson Mandela, the country’s first black president, had

died peacefully at his home in Houghton, a pleasant suburb of ohannesburg, South Africa reacted atfirst with sadness but !uickly shifted to celebrating an e"traordinary life# $eople congregated throughthe night outside Mr Mandela’s home, as well as at his former residence in Soweto, an urban sprawl ahalf%hour’s dri&e away# Some came to sing songs' others to light hundreds of candles in remembrance#

A &ery different form of memorialising could be heard during one of the many Sunday prayer ser&icesheld in honour of (Madiba), Mr Mandela’s clan name# Thabo Mbeki, who ser&ed as president after him,said a proper celebration should also include a reflection on whether the country’s current leadershipwas li&ing up to the standards set by Mr Mandela and his contemporaries#

The theme of leadership was taken up by *arack +bama, the star turn at a rain%soaked memorial ser&iceheld on ecember -.th in a football stadium in Soweto# Speaking in front of leaders from /- countriesMr +bama said Mr Mandela set a high bar# (0hile 1 will always fall short of Madiba’s e"ample, hemakes me want to be a better man#)

The crowd greeted Mr +bama’s arri&al with cheers# *y contrast acob 2uma, South Africa’s president,was booed by sections of the stadium# 1t was the first discordant note since Mr Mandela’s death onecember 3th# 1t was also an audible gauge of how far the standing of the presidency has fallen sinceMr Mandela held the office# The ruling African National 4ongress 5AN46, with Mr 2uma at its head,will ne"t year face its toughest election campaign since coming to power in -//7#

1n e&ery dream home a heartache

1n the week before Mr Mandela’s death the news in South Africa was dominated by a furore o&er anofficial report leaked to the Mail & Guardian, a weekly newspaper, concerning the 8-3m rand 5988m6of public money spent on Mr 2uma’s pri&ate home at Nkandla, in the pro&ince of :wa2ulu%Natal# Anin&estigation led by Thuli Madonsela, the public protector, found that Mr 2uma had deri&ed(substantial) pri&ate benefits from publicly funded building works to make his home secure# A newswimming pool, amphitheatre and cattle enclosure were part of what was supposed to be a securityupgrade#

Mr 2uma told parliament in 8.-8 that his family had paid for all the building work on his Nkandla

home, bar the security features# The report of Ms Madonsela’s pro&isional findings suggests otherwise#Mr 2uma’s allies had been trying to delay publication of the report, only for a &ersion of it to be leaked#The damage was compounded by an earlier go&ernment edict, on No&ember 8.th, forbidding the

 publication of photographs of Mr 2uma’s home# That was met with defiant front%page splashes of the Nkandla compound# As a conse!uence many more ta"payers are now aware of its grandeur#

This is one of a number of scandals that ha&e dogged Mr 2uma# 1n April a pri&ate plane carrying 8..wedding guests of the ;uptas, an 1ndian family with business interests in South Africa, was allowed toland at an air%force base near $retoria# A link was soon made in many people’s minds between this

 preferential treatment and the ;uptas’ close ties with Mr 2uma, though an in!uiry found that he did not personally appro&e the landing# And Mr 2uma has ne&er !uite shaken off the taint of his close

association with another businessman, Schabir Shaik, who was con&icted of bribery in 8..3#

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The poor state of the economy has not helped his popularity# <nemployment, at nearly 83= of theworkforce, is higher than it was when Mr Mandela took office in -//7# 1f the 8m or so adults who ha&egi&en up looking for work are included, the >obless rate rises to ?@=# The economy is growing tooslowly to create many >obs, e&en as much of the rest of Africa is booming#

Angry protests about a lack of basic amenities are common, although there has been a steady increase inthe reach of municipal ser&ices# The ranks of the black middle class ha&e swollen in the years since MrMandela’s presidency# *ut many others lower down the income scale feel they ha&e been left behind#

+ne of Mr Mandela’s strengths was his ability to get disparate groups to work together in a commoninterest# The AN4 fought against apartheid in tandem with the South African 4ommunist $arty and,from the mid%-/.s, the 4ongress of South African Trade <nions, known as 4+SAT<# This tripartitealliance continued into go&ernment but has more recently shown signs of fracturing#

The pressing need to fi" the economy puts the AN4 at odds with the unions# The bulk of theunemployed are young adults, many of them unskilled# E&en so it took more than three years for the

go&ernment to bring to parliament a modest scheme to subsidise untried workers, because of unionopposition# Education also needs urgent reform# +nly @.= of pupils who stay on to take the school%lea&ing certificate are able to pass it# Bet teaching unions ha&e stood firm against a no%strike rule and

 performance re&iews#

Mr 2uma owes his position to support from the unions, and his party relies on them to get &oters out onelection day# Celations ha&e been strained since 2welinDima a&i, a popular figure on the left and a&ocal critic of AN4 corruption, was suspended as general secretary of 4+SAT< earlier this year# Hisallies suspect a plot to silence an awkward figure and to turn 4+SAT< into a lapdog of the ruling party#Some unions, including the National <nion of Metalworkers 5N<MSA6, one of the largest, want Mra&i reinstated# N<MSA will hold a conference later this month to decide whether to !uit the federationand withdraw its support from the ruling party#

A split within 4+SAT< could e&entually lead to the formation of a breakaway labour party, an optionsaid to be fa&oured by a ma>ority of union officials# The AN4 already faces a challenge to its left flankfrom the Economic Freedom Fighters, a new party launched in +ctober# 1t is led by ulius Malema, a

 populist left%winger who was boss of the AN4’s youth wing until he was e"pelled# Mr Malema facesfraud charges that could land him in prison# He nonetheless has support from sections of the poor whofeel they lack a political &oice#

The &ote to come

The AN4 won G3#/= of the &ote at the most recent general election in 8../# The emocratic Alliance5A6, a liberal party that is its nearest ri&al, took >ust -@= but is gaining in popularity# 1n 8.-7 the AN4could also lose moderate &oters to Agang, another new party, led by Mamphele Camphela, a &eteran ofthe fight against apartheid# osing the election seems inconcei&able but the AN4 is unlikely to retainsuch a commanding lead#

<ntil this week many political pundits had belie&ed that Mr Mandela’s death would work in the AN4’sfa&our by reminding &oters of the party’s central role in attaining racial e!uality and political stability#Bet it could also free its erstwhile supporters from a debt of loyalty to the party# 4omparisons can beunflattering# Entreaties by the AN4 at election time to (remember Madiba) might not pro&e a &ery

reliable way to win &otes#