The couch rating for Jacob Zuma

I thought it only prudent to provide my view on the man, and his journey so far.

I need to say, and many of my regular readers will know, I have not been a fan of this man. I still consider him to have evaded justice as opposed to squaring up and taking it on. Now before you say “but he is innocent until proven guilty”. I am afraid that when it comes to public office, and certainly the highest one in the land, then you need to be able “prove” your innocence.

Anyway this post is not about that…..

I have taken a view, as far as giving my rating, based on how I have been impacted since his taking office.  I need to say that not much of an impact has been felt by me or any of my close friends. I am not sure if this is a good or a bad thing.  I think probably a bit of both.

My sense is that he came to power on the back of many promises and that the current global crises is going severely hamper his ability to deliver on these.  This is, as we have already seen, going to cause many of his own followers to grow even more disillusioned. The sad thing is that not enough is being done to educate his followers. The non-delivery is not necessarily a result of his failings but more as a result of some external factors outside of his control.

I am also of the view though, that he has been quite a refreshing change to Thabo Mbeki. Despite the non-delivery he seems to still carry much favour with his support base. I think too that his support base has widened in terms of demographic make-up. The puff ball that was COPE seems to be derailing rapidly and the supporters that moved there from the ANC must be

revisiting their vote.

So back to my rating. I must say that I have been pleasantly surprised by some of the appointments he has made. I think that these are crucial in underpinning our economy and this is ultimately what is going to enable him to deliver on the electioneering promises.

I am pleased to see the level of interaction that he has with the general population of the country and I would guess that this is probably his strongest attribute.

I think that he has been quite a visible leader who seems to seek council before making decisions. Is he effective? I think that time will tell. Will he deliver on his promises? Well I need to say that I think he is going to battle. Will he make a second term? I would be very surprised. Does he make an impact? On the stage I think he is the largest personality there.

So I guess my rating is a bit mixed. As a personality I think he scores quite highly probably an 8/10. On the delivery sid I am afraid that much will have to be done to convince me so here I will score him 4/10.

In all pretty average……so you must ask yourself is average good enough?