Zuma: Traditional Leaders should be treated like Presidents
Zuma says traditional leaders should be treated like presidents like in other countries, he was speaking in Nkandla this week.
Former president Jacob Zuma called for more power and “sovereign” authority for traditional leaders, he says they should be treated like heads of state like in other countries where the government serves under the traditional authority.
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Zuma was reported to have been speaking to traditional leaders and members of new political formation the All African Alliance Movement (AAAM), at his Nkandla homestead this week. He appealed to traditional leaders to vote for MK in the upcoming elections.
“People under amakhosi are poor since the arrival of the white men. When will we free ourselves from that? … We would be cowards if we don’t fix this. We can’t beg outsiders and be the poor ones.”
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FORMATION OF SMALL BLACK PARTIES A DELIBERATE WHITE CONSTRUCT – ZUMA
Even though Zuma himself is endorsing the new uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party, he questioned the formation of many small parties by black people. He said that was perceived as democracy but was in fact a “deliberate construct” by white people to divide black votes.
Zuma also took a swipe at President Cyril Ramaphosa, saying that people should be able to remove a president before the end of their term if they’re not satisfied with their service and remove the cap on the number of terms they can serve.
“When someone is doing a bad job we must remove him, just like we’re going to do with the one who is leading now. We must remove this person, he’s holding us back,” he said.
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‘ROMAN-DUTCH LAW TAKEN POWER AWAY FROM AMAKHOSI’
Zuma said Roman-Dutch law has taken away the power of amakhosi to rule over their people, and has given it to white men and a few politicians.
“Why keep someone who is failing us? We have to replace him now. We are poor, unemployed and living in darkness [but] we’re holding on to the Roman-Dutch law that says he must finish his term,” Zuma was reported to have said.
“Also, if there’s someone who is doing well we should not limit his time. Other countries do it where a president leads for as long as he’s doing well.”