海角大神

A sitting president cheats on his wife with another woman, admits to the press that he has a 鈥渓ove-child,鈥� and he still keeps his job.

No, this isn鈥檛 Europe. We're talking about South African President Jacob Zuma, and his admission this week to having a child out of wedlock with a mistress. While grabbing headlines, his infidelity is unlikely to have any political implications either for Mr. Zuma or for his ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC). But it does reveal something about the character of this country鈥檚 politics and its electorate.

鈥淚 really don鈥檛 think this will change a single vote,鈥� says Steven Friedman, director of the Centre for the Study of Democracy, an initiative of Rhodes University and the University of Johannesburg. 鈥淚n South Africa, it鈥檚 about identity politics. It鈥檚 big-issue politics. Although this is a socially conservative society, the political fault lines are so deep and so clearly drawn that personal and sexual morality becomes a non-issue.鈥�

With 65.9 percent of the vote in the 2009 elections, President Zuma is certainly in no danger of losing either his job or his party鈥檚 hold on power. But the latest revelation 鈥� printed on the front pages of nearly every South African newspaper, and decried by almost all the opposition parties 鈥� is an interesting window on South Africa鈥檚 sharply divided political culture. It could reveal how the ANC and its leader responds to criticism and negative media coverage, setting the tone for the president鈥檚 relations with news media for the rest of his term in office.

Zuma鈥檚 private behavior, suggest critics, might undermine the government鈥檚 efforts to fight the spread of HIV 鈥� South Africa already has the highest number of citizens infected with the disease, at 5.4 million. But his actions are far from likely to lead to the sort of 1998-99 impeachment effort that President Clinton faced over his affair with Monica Lewinsky, or to lead to his resignation, as happened with Britain鈥檚 Defense Minister John Profumo in 1963.

鈥淭he way such a scandal is handled is in part shaped by the political character of the country,鈥� says Aubrey Matshiqi, a senior researcher at the Center for Policy Studies in Johannesburg. 鈥淚n France, this is not an issue. To some extent in Italy, this is not an issue. But in South Africa, we don鈥檛 have a common political culture, we have a clash of political cultures.鈥�

This clash 鈥� played out in the news media -- reflects the disaffection of the white minority that didn鈥檛 vote for the ANC, and for a small but growing number of middle-class blacks who are drifting away from the ANC. Leaders of smaller parties, may say, as Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille did this week, that the president should 鈥渁pologize and act to better embody the values he advocates for other South Africans,鈥� but for the time being, they are not calling for Zuma鈥檚 resignation.

Non-issue or not, Zuma鈥檚 personal and sexual behavior have been big news for the better part of a decade. In 2005, Zuma faced charges, and in 2006 was acquitted, of raping the daughter of a close friend. Testimony from that trial 鈥� including his assertion that he didn鈥檛 worry about contracting HIV from the HIV-positive woman he had sex with, because he had taken a shower 鈥� continues to follow Zuma. One cartoonist portrayed him with a shower-head permanently hovering, like a halo.

In the lead-up to the March 2009 elections, Zuma鈥檚 marriage to two more women horrified some South Africans. But polygamy is allowed under Zulu culture, and Zulus are the single largest ethnic group in the country. So, his mulitple wives cost him little 鈥� if any 鈥搒upport from the poor black majority who make up the ANC鈥檚 base.

For many black voters, Zuma is a man who shares the poor upbringing and traditional culture of the common man. The only thing that would likely be counted against Zuma and the ANC, for this voting block, is the failure of the ANC to create enough jobs and housing to uplift their lives. Counting wives and children -- (now three wives and 20 children, with a fianc茅e waiting in the wings) may be an obsession for South Africa鈥檚 mainly white-owned media, but it only brings chuckles from the vast majority who look to the ANC as their political and economic savior.

For his part, Zuma reacted sharply to media coverage of what he considers a 鈥減ersonal matter.鈥�

鈥淚 confirm that I have a relationship with Ms. Sonono Khoza,鈥� he told reporters yesterday. 鈥淚 said during World AIDS Day that we must all take personal responsibility for our actions. I have done so.鈥�

But then he accused the media of violating the rights of his 20^th child to privacy. 鈥淥ur Constitution and our laws require us to protect children from harmful public exposure. The Constitution states that it is inappropriate to place at risk, the child鈥檚 well-being, physical or mental health, spiritual, moral or social development.鈥�

He also rejected assertions that his sexual activities undermined his own message to fight the spread of AIDS. 鈥淚 will not compromise on the campaign. Rather we will intensify our efforts to promote prevention, treatment, research and the fight against the stigma attached to the epidemic.鈥�