ZUMA - BLAMING OTHERS FOR HIS FAILURES - Doing what most black leaders are famous for

ZUMA - BLAMING OTHERS FOR HIS FAILURES

Doing what most black leaders are famous for

Stes de Necker

On Tuesday (18 August 2015), South African President Jacob Zuma was again in the news doing what black leaders are famous for – blaming others for their failures.

Zuma told reporters that the reason why South Africa is descending from the First World to the Third in just twenty years after the collapse of apartheid is “apartheid heritage”. 

He claimed that apartheid is to blame for the weak economic growth in South Africa, calling it “colonialism of a special type”.

"Other countries in Africa never had a racially based economy... We are trying to address the legacy of apartheid, and it's going to be with us a long time,"

"At the same time it (South Africa) must be competing with countries that never had such a challenge."

There is a saying in the Yoruba country that the sound of rain shortly after the utterance of a cleric, fortifies his belief that the heavens validate his assertion.

There is no doubt that these historical phases had their impacts on the lives of Africans, but at the same time it is utterly irresponsible to use them to excuse the lack of vision, the will power to do the right things and the absence of character in leadership that have been the bane of South Africa decades after independence.

If Zuma were to be asked why is he into the habit of acquiring a harem, he would most likely cite apartheid experience for his libidinous behaviour.  

  

Economic growth

South Africa's economy grew by 1.5 per cent in 2014, down from 2.2 per cent in 2013, according to preliminary estimates of real gross domestic product (GDP) released by Stats SA.

Zuma admitted that power outages in the country were also hindering economic growth, while unemployment remains a concern.

African leaders seems prone never to take responsibility for their actions and heaping all their woes on slavery, colonialism, imperialism and apartheid.

20 years into Nigerian independence,the Ozidi King Sunny Okosun released an album titled "Which Way Nigeria?" and part of the lyrics:

"Twenty years after independence, we still find it hard to start. How long shall we be patient before we reach the promised land?"

A few years later, Fela Anikulapo Kuti released JUST LIKE THAT with powerful lyrics such as :

"White man ruled us many years we get electricity constantly

Our people take over dam come build Kainji Dam

Since dam build the dam no electricity for town... "

When Malawians were tired of the tyranny of their longest reigning despot Kamuzu Banda, there was a huge protest and some of the banners they carried displayed the message:  "BETTER THE COLONIALISTS."

It is glaringly obvious that African leaders have not been able to create functional societies several years after the colonial experience. It seems that black people are still nostalgic about the years the white man was there with their systems that worked.

Functional societies

A certain black business man from Africa once said to me:  "we blacks are created to amuse humanity. If you want your child to make some impact just ask him to go and play football or sing music. "

I had called his attention to the evil of colonialism and how it slowed down development. But he asked me poignantly "What has Liberia and Lesotho and Swaziland, that was not colonised, made of themselves?”  

   

I further espoused on the fact that many African societies were not exposed early enough to the type of education that is driving modernisation.

He allowed me to conclude on the point and said again: "I hope you remember that some of the earliest educated people in Nigeria like Chief Adekunle Ajasin went to Fourah Bay College.

What has Sierra Leone achieved with that education? Go there today and you will see Lebanese mining their resources."

Having lost the argument at societal level, I referred him to those individuals and influential black people like Mandela, Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe and others whose intellects the world could not ignore, but he was still not fazed as he said: "Those ones are statistical errors. No society can make progress only on its exceptions”.

Twenty five years after the ANC came into power, there are still very few, if any, signs that South Africa is moving in the direction of progress.