Jeremy Gordin, biographer of Jacob Zuma, has come out in defense of the president over his latest “love child” scandal, saying that what Zuma does or does not do between the sheets is no one else’s business. Gordin goes further by explaining why it’s not in the public interest to know the intimate details of Zuma’s relationships – and where those who think it is got it wrong. Save your indignation, he says, for the important stuff:
My musings came in the wake of Sunday’s “revelation” about President Jacob G Zuma having engendered a 20th child because …..because, geez, have you ever encountered, listened to or read such an outpouring of pathetic, heart-tearing envy in your life?
From Redi Direko on Radio 702, to Justice Malala and Phylicia Oppelt in The Times, to Helen Zille in Cape Town (well, sort of expected it from her), to the Rev KRJ Meshoe, MP, of the ACDP and the whinnying legal expert Pierre de Vos, what a bunch of Mother Grundys…!
Let’s get a few things in perspective, shall we? We Africans are, as Alex Shoumatoff wrote 22 years ago, a sex-positive bunch. We like to slip, and to receive, what the late Frank Zappa, may his memory be blessed, referred to as the big chiluga. We’re a fun-loving bunch. As far as I can tell, everyone, everyone, in this country – except me, and maybe not my wife – is going at it like a jack rabbit.
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February 4th, 2010 @13:17 #
Is this satire, I wonder? "Envy"??? All this "hey shoo wow what a man getting lucky big fella" back-slapping would be okay (if best kept within the confines of the pub) in a society sans HIV/Aids, and in which the population growth was below zero. In a country with HIV-infection rates as high as 40% in rural KZN (Zuma's primary constituency) and in which the father of 20 children publicly (and clearly without a shred of sincerity) apologised on national TV for his irresponsibility in having casual sex without a condom a few years back, it's gobsmacking.
One of the biggest challenges underpinning our battles with poverty, land degradation, job creation, crime etc is overpopulation. A president is an aspirational figure: if he can father 20 kids (whom he couldn't support for much of his adult life, if the evidence mounted by the defense at the Shaik trial is to be believed), why shouldn't the rest of us do the same -- hey, let's see how fast we can trash the economy and the environment, and who cares if our children suffer the consequences?
A polygamous man should in any case be using condoms for every sexual encounter, to prevent cross-infection (not just the big nasties, but bugs like thrush) between spouses. Several prominent SA women like Sheila Sisulu have gone on record as stating that they and their spouses use condoms every time they have sex -- a practical and responsible response to the realities of human relationships in an age of Aids.
I personally don't care if Zuma bonks till he drops or how promiscuous he is (that's his wives' problem) -- as long as he dresses up the "big chiluga" that Gordin speaks of so admiringly in a condom EVERY TIME. Sorry, Jeremy, for the Prez to undermine the Aids campaign this way -- "do as I say, not as I do" -- is indeed "big stuff".
February 4th, 2010 @13:49 #
"...what Zuma does or does not do between the sheets is no one else’s business. Gordin goes further by explaining why it’s not in the public interest to know the intimate details of Zuma’s relationships"
What nonsense. It comes with the job - like it or not. Nelson Mandela was publicly reprimanded by Tutu when Mandela was 'co-habiting' with Graca, and spurred the Old Man on to get married.
It is blatantly absurd to tell the audience at large what its business is and isn't.
Regardless of the stated 'sex-positive' bunch we African happen to be. Tell that to the 70 thousand (yes, seventy thousand odd) people in this country alone who actually make an effort of reporting a forced 'sex positive' act, annually.
In a country with problems as SA has in the field of sexual violence and hiv/aids its is everyone's business what the president of this country does or doesn't do, with whom it does it and how he does it.
Saying that it is no one business is re-phrasing ridiculous statements by both the ANC Youth League as well as the ANC Women's League - both hiding behind distorted 'traditions' so as to not have to criticise "The Big Man" waving his "machine gun".
What Zuma does in the bedroom is of public importance as much as it is of national importance to know that the wife of the Minister for State Security is awaiting trial for cocaine smuggling, while the Minister himself says to have not known of his wife's drugs dealings.
Public debates are needed about the affairs of the bedroom.
Because whatever happens in the bedroom causes huge amounts of suffering in this country. It is allowed to continue, because no one dares speak up about these so-called 'sex-positive' attitudes.
Wake up, Mr Gordin.
February 7th, 2010 @21:19 #
This is, after all, the one-time leader of our national "moral regeneration programme" that we're discussing. Someone who calls on others to "morally regenerate" deserves to be held to a particularly high standard, even amongst politicians.