A leader unites

On the death penalty

I have explained this numerous times. I?ve never said the death penalty must come back. This issue arose when I was in the Cape Flats, where I was invited to speak to the community on the violence rampaging the place. The question emerged, ?Why did you stop the death penalty??

I took a long time to explain the ANC had never abolished the death penalty but that it was the decision of the Constitutional Court, and we supported them in their position. They said, ?We are dying. We want it.?

I said, ?This is a democratic country, as I understand it. There is no debate that is going to be suppressed, because we have got to depend on how logically we argue our points to convince others.?

I was then quoted as saying I was pro the death sentence. The truth remains that I said that if the majority says so, who could move against the very grain of democratic principles and that a majority should win the day.

If the majority on any law, for that matter, say, ?We don?t like this law? and they are able to demonstrate that. Either through a petition or similar process and ask for a referendum, then I see no reason why we should not do so. Isn?t that what the essence of democracy is all about?

We cannot suppress other people?s views because we don?t like them or because we disagree with them. We ought to stand up and be able to convince them on what we believe in.

On the ANCYL and Julius Malema

You know, the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) has always been very vibrant. The Mandela we know today as an international icon would have stopped people in their tracks if one could hear what he used to say as a young man.

In my view, the ANCYL articulate things they way they are feeling at that precise moment and will always ended up moving their stance to a safer place.

There have been different leaders in the ANCYL such as Peter Mokaba and Malusi Giqaba, who have always spoken with passion and chosen words that have angered people. I think it?s the ANC?s task to help the Youth League grow properly. They should be given the opportunity to grow in their positions. Julius was the leader of the Congress of South African Students (Cosas) and that has also always been a very vocal organization. I think he is going to grow within the ANC leadership and appreciate and learn from that leadership around him.

As an uneducated man myself, I understand that sometimes the figures of speech we use in English are taken literally instead of figuratively and people took him to task on what he said.

Instead of helping the young man, we make such a big ?hullabaloo? about it. Let the young man grow please, his potential is big and his heart is in the right place. The young people have felt he should be there and because they think at this time, they need that kind of leader.

On his leadership qualities

I, Jacob Zuma, remain what I am. Give me the responsibility and I will do it but I am not going to change myself.

I take leadership not as something that changes you into something else that you become; what must remain what you are.

At my home in Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal, I have built a homestead which the media keep saying the French paid for. I don?t where they got this idea or the idea a friend of mine paid for the house as I am paying the bond every month, but be that as it may. The house is built in rondavel style like those in the village around it. Yes, inside it has tiles and a toilet but generally it doesn?t differ from the look of everyone else?s house in the area.

I did not want to build a double-storey house so that when people came to visit they would fear they had to take off their shoes. I want to relate to them and identify with them. That is my life, and that is why if I find an old man drinking Zulu or Xhosa brew out of an old tin, I have no difficulty in joining him, because it makes me feel I am part of them and they are part of me. I love it.

My only ambition is to leave the ANC with a major contribution as a leader who unites people. I should be able to leave a government of the ANC that is able to deliver quicker services than it currently does. To leave a Government that is people ?user-friendly? and when I go the ANC should be in an even better position than it was before. If that was my legacy then I could leave saying ?Thank you very much!?

It is not an issue where I serve in the ANC, because it?s not that I feel the hugue urge to sit on government; I know I have fellow comrades who would do just as good a job and I will be happy to go where the ANC decide I will be best utilized.

If my aim had always been government I would have accepted the post offered to me by Madiba in 1994, when he asked me to be on his first cabinet. I asked him if I could go to Kwa-Zulu Natal as I felt I had a better understanding of the place and where I could make the biggest contribution, especially considering the terrible violence going on there at the time.

I may be different to Thabo Mbeki, who is more economically inclined, a bit forceful, impatient with slow-thinkers and argumentative. I am different to Mandela who is very patient but very expressive in getting his point across when it matters. I like discussing and debating with people and I like people to be aware of what is happening. I believe mostly in the collective and collective leadership.

Springboks or All Blacks?

I could never support anyone but my own country! The Springboks of course! I actually watched the semi-finals against Argentina at the World Cup and absolutely loved it.

Kaizer Chiefs or Orlando Pirates?

Neither! I am an AmaZulu boy through and through!

I love soccer and will watch all the games if I could but I wear my heart on my sleeve here and even Kaizer Motaung and Irwin Khosa know who the team is I support.

Biggest inspiration

There are many but the two who appealed to me in a particularly strong way were Luthuli and Oliver Tambo.

Zuma's epitaph

?Let there be peace on earth!?