There are some interesting similarities and contrasts between ZANU (PF)’s Saviour Kasukuwere and the ANC’s Julius Malema. Modestly educated but brash and abrasive, they both have built formidable political careers at very young ages. Although Kasukuwere is about ten years senior to Malema, they both have branded themselves as combative young politicians who stand for black economic empowerment through state interventions that include nationalization and compulsory acquisition. While Kasukuwere has successfully used the revolutionary discourse of black empowerment to carve a political niche for himself in ZANU (PF), Malema has met with some serious resistance in the ANC.
Malema quickly rose to become the all-powerful youth league President whose words and actions determined political outcomes in the ANC. In the build up to the 2007 elective Polokwane congress of the party he vowed that he would ‘kill for Zuma’ and indeed there was blood on the floor as then party President Thabo Mbeki was swept away by the unstoppable ‘Zuma Tsunami’. Malema quickly became the all-conquering young and powerful politician who was feared both within and outside of the ANC.
But he was also prone to immature gaffes that were to ultimately reverse his political gains. Defending Zuma during his rape trial, Malema caused a furor by claiming that the rape victim had enjoyed the act because she had stayed well into the morning and asked for bus fare. He later apologised but the ‘firebrand’ politician was just not done yet. Addressing journalists in Sandton, he castigated Zimbabwe’s MDC as a popcorn political party wont to holding press conferences in ‘air-conditioned rooms in Sandton’. When a British journalist retorted that Malema himself lived in Sandton, he ordered him out of the room but not before telling him that he had ‘rubbish in his pants’.
Some in the ANC leadership started worrying about Malema’s antics as they were unsettling many in a society that is still undergoing the post-natal pains of a new democracy. But Juju, as he is affectionately known by legions of his youthful supporters, got away with it because Zuma still considered him a vital cog of the ‘Zuma Tsunami’.
When information broke out that Malema had millions of rand stashed in a trust account in his son’s name, he rebuffed the reports and challenged tax authorities to charge him if he had a case to answer. Details of tender kickbacks from contractors in his Limpopo home province emerged and again Malema escaped unscathed. Challenged about his bling lifestyle that includes owning several multi-million rand homes in plushy suburbs, fast cars, Don Perignon champagne-filled parties featuring scantly dressed young models, a Breitling wrist watch valued at R250 000 and a cash rich bank account, Malema argued that he was ‘poor’ and he lived on handouts from ANC comrades including former chief whip and jailbird Tony Yengeni.
As his political star was rising, Malema visited Zimbabwe and got a rousing welcome from ZANU (PF). He sang and danced shoulder to shoulder with Kasukuwere and visited mining giant Zimplats to bolster his colleague’s ‘empowerment’ credentials. As the red carpet was laid for him at State House, he declared the ANC’s unwavering support to ZANU (PF) and Mugabe. Many at the time silently wondered if party bosses at Luthuli House had sanctioned this. Malema and Kasukuwere were inseparable as they toured various ‘empowerment projects’ in the country. When ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe was to later visit Zimbabwe, he accused ZANU (PF) of having made Malema the buffoon that he had become. Although he appeared to say it in jest, such banter is uncommon in political exchanges between liberation movements. Many observers viewed this as an official compliant by the ANC.
Malema caused further ructions in the ANC by vigorously pushing his empowerment brand of politics against wise counsel from ANC elders. For a country eager to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) to bolster its newfound status as an emerging economy in the same league as Brazil, India, Turkey and China, South African authorities were worried about Malema’s call for nationalization of mines and compulsory acquisition of land. He called white farm owners ‘thieves’ who had stolen land and he defiantly continued to sing the song ‘Kill the Boer’ despite a court injunction barring him from doing so.
He further infuriated party leaders by lambasting the government of Ian Khama in Botswana as an undemocratic front of Western interests that had to be removed from power. Humiliatingly the ANC forced the youth league to apologise to Khama’s Botswana Democratic Party (BDP). Meanwhile Zuma was increasingly growing weary of Malema’s unmeasured public utterances. While party heavyweights like Winnie Madikizela Mandela and Tokyo Sexwale publicly defended Malema’s embarrassing gaffes as the coming of age of a young politician, many in the upper echelons of the party hung their heads in shame every time Malema opened his mouth.
The final blow came when Malema turned his screws on Zuma by boldly declaring that the youth league would ensure that he does not get a second term at the Mangaung Conference in 2012. What probably annoyed the South African President most was Malema’s assertion that Mbeki was better than him (Zuma). Malema was quickly hurled before a disciplinary committee, which found him guilty on some of the counts and handed him a five-year suspension from the party. Although it is too early to write his political obituary, he certainly faces a long spell in the political wilderness. And it is proving to be cold out there as authorities have re-opened investigations into his murky financial affairs.
While Kasukuwere’s political life has not been as colorful as Malema’s, he likes to tout himself as the poor people’s champion despite living a life that is far from being frugal. A former intelligence officer operating in the Manicaland Province, he has quickly risen through the political ranks to become a member of the powerful ZANU (PF) politburo and Minister for Youth and Indigenization. His critics accuse him of being the ‘brains’ behind the ZANU (PF) violence infrastructure. As Deputy Minister of Youth he was in charge of the youth training programme, a dubious exercise that is blamed for producing ‘killing machines’ that have perpetrated violence against defenseless villagers. Recently Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai told President Mugabe that Kasukuwere was responsible for violent skirmishes in Chitungwiza, a charge that Tyson, as both his friends and foes call him, sternly denied.
A multi-millionaire in his own right, he owns several companies that are involved in oil, agriculture and tourism. He once bragged at a SAPES seminar that he had lost millions of dollars due to sanctions but that did not bother him. Pointing to ZANU (PF) colleague Jonathan Moyo who was seated in the front row, Kasukuwere quipped, ‘Look at Jonathan. He is on the sanctions list but he still looks good in that suit he is wearing. The sanctions don’t bother us’. He is reported to have occupied several farms under ZANU (PF)’s sham land reform programme.
Like Malema, Kasukuwere has an acerbic tongue. He has rubbished everyone who is opposed to his controversial empowerment law, including central bank governor Gideon Gono. He has repeatedly lashed at foreign banks including Barclays and Standard Chartered Bank, accusing them of sabotaging the country by refusing to support the government in its efforts to turn around the economy. His abrasive push for indigenization has alienated domestic and foreign investors. His doughtiness in defending the indigenization law in its entirety has also exposed his daftness. Quizzed by lawyer Derek Matyszack of the Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU) on some glaring contradictions of the empowerment act, he angrily reacted, “I am not a lawyer but the courts are there. If you are not happy with the policy go to the courts’.
Kasukuwere, like Malema, is also known to harbor some ambitions for higher office. He has made desperate attempts to tout himself as a reformist as part of the so-called ‘Generation 40’ camp that entertains hopes of taking over the reigns of the party from the old guard. Curiously he counts Jonathan Moyo as one of the movers and shakers in that camp. How Moyo features in a shadowy outfit called the ‘Generation 40 boggles the mind. He does not fit that demographic profile given that the celebrated ‘political flip-flopper’ is way past the 40-year mark.
While Malema has courted the ire of the ANC party leadership, Kasukuwere has tried to endear himself to Mugabe. In a desperate bid to recover lost political ground following Wikileaks revelations that he discussed internal party politics with the US mission in Harare, he arm-twisted mining company Zimplats to quickly stitch a $10 million community empowerment trust fund that will benefit villagers from Mugabe’s Zvimba community. There are fears that Kasukuwere’s extortionist empowerment policy is being used to build an election war chest for ZANU (PF).
For now Kasukuwere can bask in the glory. Only time will tell whether Mugabe considers him part of his inner circle, or like Malema to Zuma, he is just a useful cog that will be cast away as soon as it has outlived its usefulness.
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