ANC Decline Symbolizes South Africa’s Normalization

Last Thursday, a television news crew made its way to former South African President Jacob Zuma’s homestead, an ugly monstrosity controversially built at a cost of 250 million rand ($13.6 million) of taxpayers’ money, in his rural village of Nkandla. The crew got to interview Zuma after midnight. At around 2 a.m., the crew watched in amazement as a genial Zuma, aged 82, welcomed a delegation of French diplomats into his living room for a meeting.

The indefatigable Zuma has run a relentless campaign since announcing his parting of ways with the ruling African National Congress, the party that led the liberation struggle and of which he was leader for 10 years until 2017. He has addressed public meetings, attended numerous court appearances, attacked his adversaries in the ANC and institutions of state, sang and danced energetically at political rallies, and travelled extensively across the country.