Let me be the first to sound the alarm.
I fear Jacob Zuma may be preparing to make a comeback. He has been murmuring in the background with increasing volume and over the weekend it reached its crescendo.
While he was terribly sick during his trials, he appeared fully recovered when he addressed the media on Saturday.
He must have the same affliction as his former financial advisor Schabir Shaik, who appears to have made a full recovery from the terminal illness that secured him medical parole.
Zuma had a lot to say, mostly about what a terrible president Cyril Ramaphosa is, and how corrupt he is. I could actually hear the collective sniggers from the country’s reasonable masses.
Zuma appears to be painting his successor in as bad a light as possible, while skimming over his own tenure.
I’m not overly-surprised, as global politics finds itself at yet another critical crossroads.
Italy is about to install its first right-wing president since the Second World War, which has got her EU neighbours extremely nervous.
Britain just survived the shortest lifespan of a prime minister in its democratic history, with the resignation of Liz Truss after just 44 days in office.
And that means Boris Johnson might be salivating with excitement at the possibility of a second shot at his old job.
His equally nutty buddy Donald Trump has also been hinting that he could run for American president in 2024.
Knowing what we know now, it’s fair to say that his success is not outside the realm of possibility, so neither is Zuma’s.
With his attack on Ramaphosa, I think Zuma is feeling out the landscape to see if there’s enough support out there for him.
Either the stars are aligning for Zuma, or Cyril’s troubles have been very carefully orchestrated to play out ahead of the ANC elective conference in December.
I suspect the latter, because – over the weekend – the Ramaphosa issue was also addressed by former president Thabo Mbeki, who is usually a lot more tactful about these things. This time, he didn’t mince his words, saying that “the ANC is being led by criminals”.
These are two very powerful voices, as they address both sides of the political divide – the disenfranchised masses represented by Zuma, and the intellectual decision-makers who respect Mbeki.
But, if there’s any chance of Zuma becoming No 1 again – and I truly hope there isn’t – then it would serve us well to remember the legacy that this man left us with.
In Saturday’s speech, he actually called Cyril’s Phala Phala-gate “treason against the Constitution”, and also dared to say that “no president should conduct private business while in office”.
I mean, the audacity, right. How short does he think our memories are? Every time we have load shedding, we remember that it was him who basically handed Eskom over to the Guptas to plunder then flee.
But voters are as desperate for change as they were the last time radical change happened.
I just hope they don’t forget that all the people that are being prosecuted right now, are people who Zuma enabled to loot and plunder.
dailyvoice@inl.co.za