High price paid for Zuma presidency

Elections Bureau Not all of the blame for the ANC’s election failures can be laid at President Zuma’s door, but in some areas his malign influence can be clearly discerned, writes Craig Dodds. As the ANC picks over the withered remains of its elections campaign, some will be attempting to quantify – and some to deny – how much President Jacob Zuma cost the party in votes.  It will not be an exact science, but whatever consensus emerges, if any, will have a significant bearing on Zuma’s fortunes in the party. In Nelson Mandela Bay, for example, it is clear local failure was at least as much a factor in the 10 percentage point drop in the ANC’s support as the broader narrative around these elections in which Zuma, despite the ANC’s attempts to keep him on the periphery, was a constant bone of contention. But in Tshwane and Johannesburg and in the roughly 8 percentage point decline in ANC support overall since 2011, Zuma’s malign influence can be clearly discerned. If, however, the ANC has finally felt the pain where it matters, the country as a whole has been hurting for far longer. The material costs associated with the president can be quantified: Nkandla; the biggest cabinet in the country’s history; his astronomical legal fees; upkeep of his household and his security; travel and salary costs, among others.