Jacob Zuma’s Fall from Revolutionary Grace: A Legacy Bartered for Opulence and Betrayal

✍️ BY: Dr. Hana Saada

Once a symbol of resistance against apartheid, Zuma now stands disqualified by history as his indulgent alignment with Morocco stains the principled legacy of South African liberation.

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Algiers, Algeria– Wednesday, July 16, 2025 | In the shadow of Marrakech’s opulent El Mamounia Palace, once frequented by monarchs and moguls, Jacob Zuma, the former South African president, has chosen to shed his revolutionary legacy for the seduction of gilded hospitality. His recent stay in Morocco—lavish and highly publicized—was not merely a private retreat, but a symbolic betrayal of the values once carried by South Africa’s liberation movement. What was once sacred, Zuma has now sold—cheaply and shamefully—on the global stage.

Morocco knows how to flatter its guests, especially those willing to serve as pawns in its geopolitical whitewashing. But this spectacle was not just another act of diplomacy. It was a calculated affront to everything South Africa has stood for since its emancipation from apartheid: solidarity with oppressed peoples, resistance against colonial occupation, and principled Pan-Africanism.

Zuma’s shameful capitulation before the Moroccan monarchy comes at a time when Pretoria remains on the front lines of the legal and moral battle against genocide, leading the case against the Zionist entity at the International Court of Justice over its crimes in Gaza. A nation like South Africa, born from the ashes of institutionalized racism and state violence, cannot morally afford to turn its back on the struggles of Palestinians and Sahrawis, both of whom remain under occupation and systematic oppression.

The hypocrisy is flagrant. While Nelson Mandela received his revolutionary training alongside Algeria’s FLN in the maquis of the Aurès mountains, Zuma now cavorts with a regime that not only colonizes Western Sahara but also aligns itself with the Zionist entity perpetrating atrocities in Palestine. Morocco, in its quest for regional dominance, continues to plunder Sahrawi resources, suffocate dissent, and whitewash its crimes through selective alliances and opportunistic diplomacy.

Let it not be forgotten that Morocco had to officially recognize the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) through a royal decree before being accepted into the African Union in 2017. This recognition, though begrudging, was a precondition for readmission—a damning reminder that colonialism still lingers on the African continent, in full contradiction with the founding principles of the AU.

Zuma’s alignment with Rabat is therefore not an isolated lapse, but a profound betrayal of the sacrifices of millions, a stain on the tapestry of African unity, and a boon to the forces of reaction and occupation. It is a move that disqualifies him not only politically, but morally and historically.

Let us remember: all revolutions have known their traitors, their Judas figures. Zuma’s moral collapse only amplifies the luminance of those who stayed true to their people’s liberation, just as clouds make the sun appear ever brighter.

Postscript: Zuma’s party, uMkhonto weSizwe (MK), has emerged as the third-largest force in South Africa’s National Assembly with 58 seats, trailing behind the Democratic Alliance (87 seats) and the ruling African National Congress (ANC), which still holds a dominant 159-seat majority. The numbers may shift, but principles endure—and history remembers.

Translated and adapted from: La Patrie News – Éclairage – Zoom sur un Zuma disqualifié par l’histoire

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