Breaking: Jacob Zuma will resign as President of South Africa

Gallo / The Times / Esa Alexander

Jacob Zuma: 2016 in review

An annual report on our fearless, invincible leader

Breaking: Jacob Zuma will resign as President of South Africa

Gallo / The Times / Esa Alexander

2016 illustrated marked changes in global politics; from Brexit to the Trump presidency a change in the traditional narrative of politics has been felt throughout 2016. And yet in South Africa where the unconventional has become to feel somewhat traditional Jacob Zuma, a man whose presidency has been marred in controversy, retained form and managed to survive a truly turbulent 2016.

Zuma started the year reeling from the scandals of 2015. His January 8th speech was delivered amongst allegations of tensions between himself and his deputy president and while the president denied these allegations rumours of a rift in the ANC seemed to be brewing.

His State of the Nation address in February marked the beginning of what was to be a tumultuous year in parliament for the president. Without the pomp and glamour of traditional SONA events Zuma faced opposition from the outset of his speech with the EFF and Cope eventually walking out of the sitting.

March saw the Public Protector’s Nkandla report and the Constitutional Court ruling that the president had acted unconstitutionally with regards to the security upgrades at his Nkandla homestead. While calls for his resignation resounded through South Africa on April 1st the president addressed the nation and issued an apology for his behaviour and a call for “… All parties to respect the judgement and abide by it.”

While the president managed to survive a motion for impeachment which stemmed from this ruling in April, his legal woes were far from over. What followed was a ruling on the so called ‘Spy Tapes’, a saga that has been haunting Zuma since the beginning of his presidency; the High Court overturned the decision of the NPA not to prosecute Zuma and labelled it “irrational and inexplicable”.

In May the president’s parliamentary woes continued; in a parliamentary Q and A session the EFF was forcibly removed, later in the month the party was once again removed during the Budget Vote speech. President Zuma delivered his Youth Day Speech in June and the Spy Tapes continued to lurk behind the president with the court denying the president leave to appeal an April 2009 judgement on the matter.

In August when the local election results were finalised a battered ANC reeled from the loss of both the Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay municipalities. As Zuma geared up for his post-election address protestors interrupted the president with calls to “Remember Kwhezi” the woman who accused him of rape in 2004. While the president complained of being abused in parliament, by October that was the least of his worry.

In October the NPA announced that it would be charging Finance Minister Pravin Ghordan. Additionally Jacob Zuma attempted to delay the release of the State Capture Report by launching an interdict; Des van Rooyen and Mosebenzi Zwane followed suite. Yet in an astounding turn of events the NPA dropped all of its charges against Pravin Ghordan at the end of the month. Once the president had withdrawn his interdict the State Capture report was released. It detailed the worrying relationship between government officials and the controversial Gupta Family.

As the year draws to a close Zuma survived a NEC debate on his removal and while Jacob Zuma appears to have survived 2016 the ANC itself is once again subjected to the rumours of divides and dissent that it faced in January.

From parliamentary troubles, to Nkandla, the State Capture Report, the Spy Tapes and the losses of traditional ANC strongholds it is no doubt that Zuma will be more than happy to see the end of 2016.

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