Open letter to Duduzane Zuma

Dear Duduzane

Allow me to respond to the “In defence of my father- Duduzane Zuma” article that appeared in Politicsweb.co.za dated February 5, 2010.

With due respect, the whole outcry is not about your father not being a loving and caring father. It is not about your father’s right to practice his culture and certainly not about the right thing your father did after screwing up – if you’ll forgive the appropriate pun.

Your father’s cheating on his wives sends a wrong message to the impressionable people of our country who look up to him for guidance; especially because he claims to be the guardian of moral regeneration.

Your father betrayed a trust of a friend by going after his daughter without his knowledge - let alone consent. Trust is a family and cultural value we AmaZulu hold very dear, and it should be one of the essential tenets of leadership.

Your father displays hypocritical tendencies that further erode the trust bestowed upon him as a leader and an elder. He told people to stick to one sexual partner, yet he has unprotected sex with a woman who is not his wife. This is in spite of the fact that your father already has three wives and a fiancé.

Your father as the head of State, should be the custodian of law and order, yet he could have perpetrated a fraud by stating on official documents that he was married to Sonono. I don’t have to tell you what the consequences of this latter action could be especially as the Department of Home Affairs is battling the rise of fraudulently acquired documents.

Your father is the President of a very important country in Africa and we, the citizens of this country, have a right to voice our disappointment at actions that make us the laughing stock of the world.

You see, Duduzane, it is neither the people nor the media that created all this ‘juicy’ or ‘smelly’ (take your pick) mess in the first place. It was your father’s gross irresponsibility, which he has invariably admitted to by paying inhlawulo. A person does not pay inhlawulo for doing an honourable deed. On the contrary, a person pays a fine or inhlawulo for doing what society or the nation deem as abominable.

I do not have to tell you that the actions of your father, whether favourable or otherwise, may have a direct or indirect cost to the South African taxpayers, of which I am one.

Continue loving your father, it is an honourable thing to do; but shift your blame some else where it belongs.