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| Zuma to meet Afrikaners [boodskap #113613] |
Ma, 26 Maart 2007 15:02  |
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http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13& amp;art_id=nw20070326143718235C807276
March 26 2007 at 02:42PM
ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma is meeting a group of prominent
Afrikaners in Johannesburg on Monday evening to discuss Afrikaner
issues.
Organiser for the meeting, Liesl Gottert said it was a private meeting
hosted by De Kat magazine publisher Elzilda Becker.
Those expected to attend include writer Dan Roodt, Solidarity's Kallie
Kriel, movie maker Leon Schuster, singer Steve Hofmeyr, photographer
Paul Alberts, actress Brumilda van Rensburg, a representative from the
Pro-Afrikaanse Aksiegroep, Sean Else, who co-wrote the song De la Rey,
and the Pendoring awards founder, writer Wilma de Bruin.
"It is people who specifically wanted to see him (Zuma) and who are
taking Afrikaner issues quite seriously," said Gottert. - Sapa
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| Re: Zuma to meet Afrikaners [boodskap #113614 is 'n antwoord op boodskap #113613] |
Ma, 26 Maart 2007 15:09  |
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On Mar 26, 6:02 pm, "Vuur" wrote:
> http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13& amp;art_id=nw2007...
> March 26 2007 at 02:42PM
>
> ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma is meeting a group of prominent
> Afrikaners in Johannesburg on Monday evening to discuss Afrikaner
> issues.
>
> Organiser for the meeting, Liesl Gottert said it was a private meeting
> hosted by De Kat magazine publisher Elzilda Becker.
>
> Those expected to attend include writer Dan Roodt, Solidarity's Kallie
> Kriel, movie maker Leon Schuster, singer Steve Hofmeyr, photographer
> Paul Alberts, actress Brumilda van Rensburg, a representative from the
> Pro-Afrikaanse Aksiegroep, Sean Else, who co-wrote the song De la Rey,
> and the Pendoring awards founder, writer Wilma de Bruin.
>
> "It is people who specifically wanted to see him (Zuma) and who are
> taking Afrikaner issues quite seriously," said Gottert. - Sapa
Is Jacob Zuma trying to be the new De la Rey?
March 11 2007 at 03:41PM
By Wendy Jasson Da Costa
What is Jacob Zuma up to?
In the past two weeks he's taken a public HIV test, twice reached out
to the Afrikaner community and spoken out against crime.
His supporters vehemently deny he's on the campaign trail, yet his
activities, on the face of it, contradict that.
Zuma's activities portray him as a man of the people who is in touch
with issues on the ground.
It's the very thing President Thabo Mbeki has been criticised for not
being.
So, is Zuma trying to upstage Mbeki?
And does it matter given that the Afrikaner community, which is not
homogenous, at most numbers only three million people according to
Afriforum chief executive Kallie Kriel?
Apart from that, Mbeki is said to have the ear of the Afrikaner elite,
the corporate multinationals and the intelligentsia.
Zuma first raised eyebrows when he met Afrikaans singer Steve
Hofmeyr.
An aide to Zuma, Ranjeni Munusamy, said Hofmeyr reached out to Zuma
because while he was the country's deputy president he was regularly
approached by the Afrikaans community and they had maintained that
contact with him.
The Friends of JZ Trust in Gauteng say Zuma's actions were just a
reflection of his personality. "Zuma is not campaigning ... It is wrong
for people to think he is trying to show off and it is wrong for
people to look at the ANC as if there is a personality contest," said
trust secretary Lucky Zibi.
Hofmeyr, however, said he received a call from Zuma's office and he
grabbed the opportunity with both hands.
It was wonderful to have a black leader who was prepared to listen to
Afrikaner concerns, he said. The singer, who has fashioned himself as
an activist, said he had embraced Zuma's open and "quite benevolent
approach".
However, he questioned Zuma's agenda, saying he wasn't sure what the
Afrikaners could offer him in terms of votes.
In the past few weeks the song De la Rey by singer Bok van Blerk has
made headlines and in some quarters evoked outrage in those who
believe it is a call to arms.
The song is about the longing for a strong leader like the Boer
general - even from outside their own ethnic background - given what
they believe is the paucity of leaders among their own.
Yet, despite the similarities between Zuma and De la Rey, their first
names (Jacob and Jacobus), their military backgrounds and their roles
as peacemakers, Hofmeyr believes Zuma cannot fill that role.
Although Zuma was affable and empathetic, Hofmeyr said he did not have
what it takes to be a statesman.
Bok van Blerk, who is the co-writer and singer of the controversial De
la Rey song, said the Boer general was a man "ahead of his time" and
Zuma did not evoke that sort of confidence in the people.
"With his history ... I don't think there is a lot of trust in somebody
like that..."
Political analyst Protas Madlala said people must not forget that Zuma
was one of the driving forces behind the peace process between the ANC
and IFP in KwaZulu-Natal. Reaching out to various communities was just
a natural extension of the kind of person Zuma is.
"I see him reaching out to a broader audience to show that he's
concerned about issues that other politicians are scared of ... he's
showing a human face," said Madlala.
Zuma was not an opportunist and his actions were "consistent with his
character".
Madlala said Zuma was portrayed in the media "parochially as a Zulu
boy" and it was not "criminal" for him to reach out to other
communities. However, he acknowledged that "a shrewd politician should
use every chance to gain political leverage".
Zuma's movements are all the more relevant given that the ANC will
choose a new leader in December and that person is likely to be the
next president of the country.
It becomes more significant given that he visited the family of an
Afrikaans florist who was stabbed to death on his farm in Meyerton,
where Zuma spoke out against the crime epidemic.
Then he took a public HIV test in his home village at Nkandla in
KwaZulu-Natal, where he was a guest of the KwaZulu-Natal health
department.
In contrast, Mbeki has been branded both an Aids and a crime denialist
for his stance on the issues.
He has also refused to take a public HIV test.
William Gumede, author of Thabo Mbeki and the Battle for the Soul of
the ANC, said it was clear Zuma's strategists were "refashioning" his
political image.
Gumede said Zuma's star had temporarily dimmed in the sense that even
in the ANC the focus was now on finding a compromise presidential
candidate, and more dramat-ically, a woman.
He said Zuma's weakness so far had been his association with "narrow
ethnic politics", and the fact that his support base was largely in
KwaZulu-Natal.
Zuma now wants to show his support base extends beyond that province.
Also interesting is that Zuma is reading the political mood quite
adroitly.
"There has been renewed restlessness in the white Afrikaans-speaking
community about being marginalised ... there has been fresh agitation
against affirmative action, as well as crime," said Gumede.
In contrast, Mbeki has been quiet on all these issues, except for
conceding the seriousness of crime during his State of the Nation
address.
"So clearly, this is an attempt by Zuma to restore his flagging
(unofficial/unstated) presidential campaign," said Gumede, adding that
by taking the public HIV test it was clear Zuma wanted to contrast his
"man-of-the-people image" to that of "Mbeki the reclusive president".
However, Munusamy insisted Zuma's actions were in keeping with his
nature that "endears him to so many communities".
She pointed out that if Zuma were campaigning "then he would be making
statements on Zimbabwe and the arms deal but he's not doing that".
"Everybody has their own view of who or what Jacob Zuma represents...
to Afrikaners they see him as someone who can listen to them (but) he
is very much his own person," she said
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13& amp;art_id=vn20070311100701128C924095
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