Barack Obama dropping bombshells on Jacob Zuma
Former President of the United States, Barack Obama, is already dropping bombshells on the day his new book is released. A Promised Land will officially launch on Tuesday 17 November, carrying various anecdotes about his eight years in office – and the current state of American democracy. He’s even found time to mention Jacob Zuma, too.
Both Jacob Zuma and Barack Obama have met during state visits, and also came together for the funeral of Nelson Mandela – held in 2013. Clearly, uBaba left an impression on Obama…
WHAT BARACK OBAMA SAID ABOUT JACOB ZUMA IN HIS NEW BOOK
But the 59-year-old doesn’t seem to remember Msholozi in glowing terms. Despite branding him as an ‘eloquent speaker’, the ex-leader lambasts his South African counterpart for being part of the leadership that has ‘squandered the goodwill built up by Nelson Mandela’, blaming the ANC for allowing ‘corruption and incompetence’ to run riot in government:
“In subsequent meetings, Jacob Zuma struck me as being amiable enough. He spoke eloquently of the need for fair trade, human development, infrastructure, and a need for more equitable distribution of wealth on the African continent.”
“By all accounts though, much of the goodwill built up by Nelson Mandela’s heroic struggle was being squandered by corruption and incompetence under the ANC leadership, leaving vast swathes of the country’s black population still mired in poverty and despair.”
Barack Obama forthright views on Jacob Zuma, as featured in ‘A Promised Land‘
THE OBAMAS IN SOUTH AFRICA
Barack Obama made another visit to South Africa in 2018, to deliver the Nelson Mandela Lecture on what would have been Madiba’s 100th birthday. His two-hour speech at The Wanderers in Johannesburg rallied again corruption, lying leaders, and the outright rejection of facts from people who should know better.
Perhaps these sentiments were not just aimed towards Donald Trump, the now-outgoing US President.
