ONGAMA MTIMKA | Commendable how Thuthukile Zuma is finding her own voice in politics

Thuthukile Zuma appears to have found a voice and political path for herself that has seen her honour her parents while asserting her freedom of association.

She posted on X recently a photo and caption of former president Jacob Zuma and minister in the presidency for women, youth and people with disabilities Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma that they are her parents, human beings she was proud to have been born by.

“I am also proud to be a member and leader of the ANC. Both are my realities and both will never change.”

There is something about this post that shows her ability to handle complexity and be so clear in terms of thought and feeling that she also communicates her stance and its political implications effectively.

This is based on her interview with seasoned broadcaster Aldrin Sampear on Newzroom Afrika. Her pro-ruling party politics introduce complexity to perceptions about the legacy of the Zuma family in SA.

Her brief media appearances recently suggest a perfect timing and effective succession as her mother, Dlamini-Zuma, retires. It must have been a reassuring message for many in the ANC and its support base troubled by the departure of former president Zuma.

As a person who takes an interest in family politics, succession politics, generational transitions in leadership and contributions of powerful families to the politics of the country, I could not help but marvel at how this young leader is handling complexity to find her own voice and activism.

Besides, this is also a story about how differences in the choices of Zuma family members may have an impact to all its political actors. It is also a story of how a new generation in this family may be carving paths to political significance.

It is a tense election period in which her father, former president Zuma, has endorsed the MK Party to contest the ANC, the family’s long established political home. He stands in MKP along with Thuthukile’s sister, Duduzile. Their brother Duduzane has founded his own political vehicle; and her mother has announced her retirement from active politics.

Thuthukile’s support for the ANC conveys the nuances within the Zuma family inner circle. This is not just about the ANC, it is also about support for the emergent SA project the ANC has come to represent.

She is not alone in this. Despite appearance in two slates of the pro-Zuma radical economic transformation faction of the ANC, Dlamini - Zuma’s ability to work in the government and maintain support to the governing party may be construed as support for the political order of the country. It should come as no surprise then, that her daughter embraces the politics of a constitutional society with a largely centrist to centre-left political outlook.

Thuthukile’s most valuable contribution in this election season has to do with this brand of politics that she advances as a member of the Zuma family by remaining in the ANC and actively campaigning for the party.

The former president and Duduzile’s politics lie somewhere between radical politics and anarchism, at times leveraging the rule of law for self-protection and at times seemingly mobilising against it.

The ANC could not have asked for a better voice of reason for it within the Zuma household than at a time when the former president and some in her family were campaigning fiercely to topple it in the upcoming elections.

Thuthukile’s seemingly self-assured public utterances recently show a young family member who has carefully evaluated her political options Ultimately she found her own voice without intentionally casting a shadow on her father’s politics and legacy.

■ Dr Mtimka is a lecturer and political analyst at the department of history and political studies at Nelson Mandela University and executive chairman at the SA Political Risk Institute. He writes in his personal capacity