Asithandile Gxumisa's Public Diary

A curious rumour is doing the rounds in my village that the democratic Republic of South Africa has overnight become an oasis of joys. The things that seem to enkindle the delight of my countrymen of late – from the paternalistic care that Cyril Ramaphosa has so convincingly affected for their general wellness to suffering their country to be run like the personal laboratory of Abdool-Carrim – are something of a phenomenon. Of these things the most recent is the condign misfortune of a Jacob Zuma who has been convicted by our highest court of an “egregious” and “aggravated” contempt of court and condemned to an imprisonment term of just over a year. An African proverb – which may not be translated into the English tongue without robbing it of the essence of its meaning – wisely cautions against the discourteous indiscretion of laughing at another man’s wound. Indeed, I say it is nothing short of astonishing that Jacob Zuma’s conviction and imprisonment should send the generality of m...