South African President Jacob Zuma, who has three wives and a fiancée, said he “deeply regrets” the pain that he has caused to his family, his political party and South Africans in general, reports The Globe and Mail.
He said he understood the angry reaction of many citizens when they learned that he is the father of a four-month-old baby with the daughter of South Africa’s national soccer boss, the chairman of its World Cup organizing committee.
In any country, Mr. Zuma’s actions would be a scandal. But in South Africa, the President’s sexual behaviour has a much more profound resonance. It has implications for health education in an AIDS-ravaged society. It touches on issues of Zulu culture and traditions.
Word on the street
In a discussion forum, a few South African women have stated that an apology from Zuma was not enough.
“This is how to get out of something and still be President, as we were saying Friday if he was in the USA he would have lost his job and been forced to apologies in the public eye. But in SA, you just get away with it,” one member said.
They also advocated for a change in sexual conduct, and that the President lead by example, especially given his own speeches asking the nation to protect themselves against HIV.
“The problem with the president is, he is like a parent figure. How can a child be on the correct path if the parent is setting a bad example? What image is he setting for South Africa?” another woman asked.
” I think the issue here though is the fact that as the President he has given all these speeches about HIV/AIDS, being responsible and so on; exhorting the population to behave, but his example belies his very public speeches,” another reader said.
Then there were those were are just tired of all the high-profile sex scandals, because having multiple concurrent partnerships is so prevalent among our more powerful men ( globally) and apologies come because the people got caught, not because they recognise the harm their behaviour brings not only to their partners and families, but to the people who look up to them for leadership.
“You know what, and maybe it’s just me but frankly I think life is too short….but in all honest it’s fairly traditional for African men to want to confirm the fertility of their future wife before getting married. No that it makes it right, but how many other men around the world are doing the same thing and our only real objection about JZ is that he’s a very public figure. To me it’s like Tiger Woods and the English soccer captain whose name escapes me right now. There are more men out there having affairs than I actually want to know about, and so long as it’s not mine, I say live and let live,” another member said.
Talk about it
So how do we get our leaders out of the seemingly unending cycle of extra-marital affairs, getting caught, the denial, the apology and moving on to the next scandal? What measures can we take to encourage our leaders to lead by example when it comes to the issue of multiple concurrent partnerships?
