Help me understand my South African President

Now that the President Jacob Zuma has spoken on the matter of his love child (the one we are reading about in the media, just in case there are others we don’t know about), I think we may safely move on to other things that affect the State of the South African nation. What I got out of all this is that a majority of South Africans is rightfully disappointed although there is a difference of opinion whether this matter is public or private. There are those who feel somewhat indifferent and they believe that whatever the President is doing in his private (or public) life should not affect the way we view his performance as the President of the country. This point I am prepared to note.

Moving forward and looking at the President’s performance thus far and what we have to expect in his State of the Nation address, I want to refer to his latest interview with Carina Kamel of the CNBC, the transcript of which is to be found in this link:

I have to admit that as a person who does not think highly of Zuma’s presidential capabilities, this position may sometimes cloud my objective assessment of the man. So I will need help, especially from those who think otherwise.

Quite honestly I don’t think Zuma answered any of Carina’s questions satisfactorily. I think Carina, just like me, does not understand, even after the interview, where Zuma stands on all the issues s/he raised; especially the issues that formed part of the agenda of that very Davos summit.

Guys and gals, please help me understand:
· Does Zuma think the rise of the emerging China economy may be just that China’s economy is overheating? What impact does Zuma think China will have on African countries especially South Africa?
· Does Zuma think the rescue/stimulus packages of the USA and Europe has been money well spent?
· Now that we did not create 500,000 jobs Zuma promised, does he have a realistic future target? Does he have a plan to meet that goal if there is a target?
· How is Zuma going to spend the R700 billion he keeps mentioning?
· What did Zuma say was South Africa’s input in Davos as part of rethinking global governance?
· Does Zuma think our labour laws need to be rethought? And if so, what needs to happen?
· What about nationalization? Zuma says it has not been discussed by the ruling party. Minister Shabangu says it will not happen in her lifetime (and she is not dying soon, she says). The ANC Youth League says the Minister is being disingenuous, nationalization of mines will happen soon; they have discussed it internally as a party, and they have produced a policy document to that effect. Who is telling the truth?
· What did Zuma say is South Africa’s economic plan after the World Cup – something that will attract investments?

I am soliciting this help from those who understand Zuma and can interpret what he says and means. I am not one of those. I just take him at his word, which in this case is incoherent.