Zuma: from pastor to president
Book Title: Zuma, A Biography
Author: Jeremy Gordon
Publisher: Jonathan Ball Publishers
Zuma, A Biography is an intriguing story of an uneducated shepherd boy who became President of the Republic of South Africa, Jacob Gedley’hlekisa Zuma, (2009 to present). He is the third democratically elected president of South Africa following in the footsteps of international icon Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki. Both Mandela and Mbeki were presidents educated at the best educational institutions, graduating as lawyers and economists respectively.
Zuma was born on April 12, 1942 into the Zuma clan in Nkandla, a rural area located in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, the birthplace of the great Zulu king: Shaka Zulu. Zuma was the first son of Nobhekisisa Zuma and his second wife, Gcinamazwi. Zuma’s mother was a domestic worker and his father was a policeman. Zuma’s father died when his son Jacob was too young. He doesn’t remember anything about his father.
A portrait of Msholozi (Zuma’s praise) emerges in the book as a man of contradictions. He is comfortable in his leopard-skin attire embedded in his deep cultural roots from the Zulu (the largest tribe in South Africa). He is a cunning modern politician and also a proud polygamous man. He is known for his affable demeanor and contagious smile of his. However, he is equally eloquent in the international arena and speaks about the complexities of the global economy without leaving a trace that his highest level of formal education remains the elementary school level.
In this unauthorized biography, veteran journalist Jeremy Gordin takes us through Zuma’s journey, from humble beginnings as a pastor, trade unionist, political prisoner (with Nelson Mandela), life in exile and, of course, his quest to become president of South Africa. .
Gordin paints a picture of a man whose life was never destined for greatness. Zuma spent his childhood as a shepherd and never had the opportunity to complete his primary education. Zuma’s family was poor, if not destitute. However, it was his mother’s work as a maid in the white suburbs of Durban that introduced Zuma to the harsh realities of apartheid.
The book recounts Zuma’s quest for freedom: joining the African National Congress (ANC) at the tender age of 17, his imprisonment on Robben Island, his time in exile, and the transition years of the 1990s.
However, the book focuses on Zuma’s role in post-apartheid South Africa. Zuma served in the cabinet of President Thabo Mbeki (1999 to 2005) as Vice President. On June 14, 2005, Zuma was fired for the misdemeanors of his friend and former financial adviser to him.
Gordin takes us through Zuma’s political rollercoaster from the political desert (after his dismissal from the vice presidency) to his election as ANC president in 2007 and his descent to the highest office: that of president of the republic. Zuma defeated Mbeki, his political nemesis, in the party’s hotly contested 2007 election. He then chaired his party’s national executive committee meeting (2008) that decided to ask Mbeki to step down from the presidency, just six months before the end. of his mandate. office. Mbeki agreed to resign in an emotional televised address to the nation.
To this end, Zuma’s biography is an important book showing how democracy works in the newly independent state of Africa (since 1994). Despite the two men’s intense political rivalry, there was no bloodshed, although Mbeki’s supporters left the ANC to form their own political party shortly after he was sacked. But Mbeki remains a member of the ANC and works closely with Zuma on the peacebuilding mission on the African continent.