SA President in a Political Stalemate

SOUTH AFRICA - In Brief 22 Nov 2016 by Iraj Abedian

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SA political economy scene has been hot, noisy, and increasingly bewildered over the past few weeks. There has not been much developments of any substance. I have been monitoring the situation carefully. There has been a great deal of political grand standing, tactical moves, threatening noise and not much consequential developments. As mentioned in my last commentary, President Zuma has painted himself into a corner and has no political capital left to sack Minister of Finance. The Minister has masterfully rallied the nation behind himself, and focused on averting a credit downgrade- at least for now. Business and labour as well as the civil society have stood behind him. The President meanwhile is kept busy with a barrage of legal cases against him and his allies in the various institutions such as the National Prosecuting Agency and SA Revenue Services. The Director of National Prosecuting Agency, assumed to be a lackey of the President, and who braved to make a case for prosecuting the Minister of Finance in mid-October, is now in the firing line, and in likelihood will lose his job, and potentially his legal accreditation as an advocate! At least three groups have applied to 'debar' him as an advocate. Within the ANC structures, there are internal chaos and a complex battle for succession in the run up to the party's elective congress in December 2017. over 100 of the ANC elders and veterans met with the President yesterday to tell him in his face why he should resign. Some of these veterans have already expressed clear and strong public statements against Mr Zuma, dismissed his claims of innocence, and placed all blame of the country's and the economy's decline o...