It seems the meaning of President Zuma’s middle name is being used against him from within his party. His name, Gedleyihlekisa means: the one who betrays you as he smiles.

From the gaffes coming from the highest office in the land, it seems there are forces right at the Union Buildings, Luthuli House and even in Cabinet working against and to embarrass the man from eNkandla.

It seems to me that the “Alliance of the Walking Wounded” that rallied against Zuma in the run up to Polokwane was a farce. It was actually every man for himself. The “Walking Wounded” included Tokyo Sexwale, Mathew Phosa, Zwelinzima Vavi, Blade Nzimande, ANCYL, Cyril Ramaphosa, Winnie Mandela etc. these were all the people who had an axe to grind with Thabo Mbeki for shunning and sidelining them and some of them like Sexwale had their own ambitions.

It has since become clear that most of the support Zuma had (at least from the leadership ranks) was not necessarily voluntary. It was out of necessity, in that they had to get back into the public life of the ANC and the only way to do that was to support the only man who seemed unstoppable in his rise to the highest office at Luthuli House. He had all the grassroots support and so was the only man with the best shot at unseating Mbeki.

The removal of Mbeki had varying benefits for all of them. For Vavi and Nzimande, it meant the strengthening of the their position within the Alliance which Mbeki had drastically diluted, for the likes of Sexwale, Madikizela-Mandela and Ramaphosa it meant being back in the fold and for the ANCYL it meant being taken seriously again.

But clearly they all didn’t bargain on Zuma asserting his authority when he was in power. Nor did they bargain on him wanting to stay on for a second term. All this and the fact that each one of them held different motives for joining forces behind Zuma spelt the end of that alliance. They all expected different outcomes from the Zuma Presidency which it seems, they are not getting.

Malema is the only one that has overtly and publicly voiced his dissatisfaction with the Zuma Presidency and has since been dealt with harshly. There has been reports of clandestine meetings apparently led by Sexwale which are discussing the removal of Zuma at the ANC elective conference in Mangaung next year. In the Top Six of the ANC leadership Zuma seems to only have the ever loyal Mantashe and National Chairperson Baleka Mbete left in his corner. Ramaphosa, as usual is playing his cards very close to his chest. No one ever knows where he stands until the very last minute.

It is quite clear that although Zuma seems to have complete control of the ANC NEC, it is quite clear that there are strong and influential forces against within that body and within the general body politic of the ANC. Most notable amongst these is Malema and the ANCYL.

Looking at the embarrassing mishaps coming from some of the President’s actions and decisions, one can be forgiven for suspecting that such opposing or similar forces operating even from the Union Building! We have seen an increasing number of instances where the President was obviously not properly advised and/or was not given full details for him to properly apply his mind. This has, on a number of occasions led to a situation where the highest office in the land has had to eat humble pie in front of the courts and the public.

The people jostling for positions within the ANC should know better then to allow such battles to affect Government. In fact I feel it is rather unpatriotic for them to, through their actions or inactions, manipulate and embarrass the office of the Presidency simply because they want to get rid of the incumbent. While they are free to contest positions like in any other political party, they need to be mindful of the fact that the ANC is a ruling party and any tension and friction within it has a way of manifesting itself into the State.

The office of the President of the Republic is much bigger than Zuma as it was with Mbeki and Mandela and should never be equated and confused with the individual that holds for he holds it temporarily.