ANALYSIS:Jacob Zuma has made an impressive start in his first 100 days as South African president, writes BILL CORCORAN
CONFRONTED BY mass strikes, weekly service delivery protests and a deepening recession since his inauguration on May 9th last, South African president Jacob Zuma’s first 100 days in power have been far from easy.
However, the 67-year-old leader of the African National Congress has used the unfolding events as a platform to showcase his approach to the country’s top job rather than allowing them to reinforce his critics’ depiction of his appointment as a nightmare scenario.
Fears over Zuma’s attitude towards the law and corruption were palpable in the run-up to last April’s general election because of the multimillion euro corruption charges – which were only dropped three weeks before the poll – that had hung over him since 2003.
Since then, however, he has gone to great lengths to act on his pre-election promise to fight corruption, appointing a new chief of police known for his tough stance against criminals and the creation of a new presidential hotline, to be launched on September 1st, to report crime.
His appointments of Gill Marcus as Reserve Bank governor and Sandile Ngcobo as chief justice also suggest the much feared jobs-for-the-boys approach to filling government positions his critics believed would materialise after he took up office may not be a forgone conclusion.
Zuma’s first 100 days in power have also been marked by a concerted effort to show his approach to government would differ significantly to the one adopted by his elected predecessor, Thabo Mbeki, a man thought of as aloof and out of touch with the poor majority.
Both he and his minister for settlements Tokyo Sexwale have made a number of unannounced visits to informal settlements across the country to talk with disgruntled South Africans involved in service delivery protests, something Mbeki rarely did.
And unlike Mbeki, who rarely made himself available to the independent media, Zuma has given numerous interviews to outline his plans.
“If you give this administration time to settle, you will see the changes. We mean business,” he told Independent Newspapers last week.
Roland Henwood, a lecturer with the University of Pretoria’s department of politics, told The Irish Times he was impressed by Zuma’s work rate so far, but it was still too early to make an honest judgment call on his presidency.
“It has gone well so far and there has been a lot of positive noise and talk, but saying that there has been little in terms of deliverables achieved,” Henwood says. “There is a high expectation amongst the electorate, so he will have to deliver.”
Indeed, the deepening economic recession has already made some pre-election promises a bridge too far for Zuma.
He has been forced to shelve plans to create 500,000 new jobs by the end of the year and an undertaking to intensify poverty alleviation through the provision of more social grants has also yet to materialise, despite heavy job losses over the past few months.
“The reality is if institutional back-up is not there, then implementing the change is difficult,” says Henwood, “and at some point good intentions are not enough. People are saying give him a chance, but there is still a lot of scepticism about his motives and ability.”
Political economist Moeletsi Mbeki believes Zuma’s actions are those of a populist who says what he needs to in order to secure power and he doubts there will be significant improvement for the poor during his presidency.
“The situation we have in South Africa is a black middle class and elite, who control government, are competing with the poor for the state’s revenues.
“Unless the former group are willing to share these revenues to a greater degree then nothing will change, no matter what is said,” he concludes.