President Zuma and the issues of sex, power and truth

It is both ironic and sad in this week of the 20th anniversary of the apartheid government’s unbanning of all political organisations, that our newspaper headlines have once again been dominated by our third democratically elected president’s sex life.

As much as the government’s public relations teams have tried to minimise the reports of President Jacob Zuma having adulterous, unprotected sex with the daughter of a close friend, this matter has continued to make headlines at home and abroad. All attempts to shut down the debate by saying that it was purely a private matter between two consenting adults, or that it is ‘un-African’ and ‘disrespectful’ to publicly discuss an elder’s sex life have failed to stem the flood of comments in radio and newspaper forums.

Frankly, I take as much issue with the attempts to stifle the outrage as I do with the fact that our country’s leader has no qualms with saying one thing and then doing another (at last year’s Aids Day, for example, Zuma urged people not to have unprotected sex. He also apologised for having unprotected sex during his rape trial).

This is because it becomes very dangerous to insist that any one public figure is above criticism and challenge. Anyone who consents to taking on a public role of leadership, from a relatively small role such as a minister in a church, to a much bigger role such as the presidency of a country should know that they no longer have the luxury of a private life. This is because they are standing for something bigger than themselves, and have a responsibility to lead their people with integrity and in a way that promotes respect and dignity for all.

The people who put them in those positions of power should never absolve themselves of their own responsibilities, which is to keep their leadership accountable and honest. Even in a time of kings and absolute power, Nathan the prophet saw fit to challenge King David on his own sexual improprieties (2 Samuel 12).

Of course our leaders will make mistakes, and it would be unrealistic and even foolish of us to expect our leaders to be perfect. And once leaders make a mistake they should be treated with absolute grace and dignity (even if they have done something undignified themselves). Yet, at the same time they should be challenged and held responsible, because we have every right to expect our leaders to live by the principles they promote or were elected to uphold.

This is why the only ‘disrespect’ I find in this situation is to be told by others that we have no right to challenge our President because he is an elder and that this is not the African way. Please don’t misunderstand me, I believe we should deeply respect each other’s cultures and ways of being, but at the same time, please give the rest of us some respect. Should we really be expected to believe that it is cultural practice for a president to take to his bed his own godchild, or the daughter of an old friend? Does cultural practice really permit a president to publicly apologise for irresponsible sex, and then to later urge others to take wear condoms, but then when temptation arises to recommit the very same acts?

The Bible has a lot to say about power and its abuses. Running like a thread through all its teachings is the theme that with power comes both responsibility and accountability. Respecting someone else’s culture means listening to them, caring for them, and being willing to relate across differences, but it certainly does not mean we can never challenge or disagree with certain cultural practices. And yes, we can do the right thing the wrong way. We should never challenge each other disrespectfully, or without carefully considering each other’s positions and our own cultural blind spots, but the fact remains that without the principle of accountability balancing out the temptations of power we run the risk of regressing as a nation to what we were 20 years ago.