Jacob Zuma

Jacob Zuma

The article's focus was on humanizing Jacob Zuma.  I have not followed media portrayals of Zuma in the past, but I got the idea that many news reports and articles depict Zuma as a womanizing, war-lord while others instill ideas of godliness.  Douglas Foster, the author of Jacob's Ladder, speaks of the character of his children, his history as a young boy and his growth, both politically and personally.  Foster forces to reader to look beyond his flaws like his alleged rape and into his character.  Foster allows the reader to dismiss this rape by quoting his daughter saying, "It's only politics."  Although Foster moves beyond a standard media portrayal of good or evil.  He uses comfortable language and is quick to dismiss Zuma's flaws, which made me feel uncomfortable.

One assumption that Foster held was that the reader understood the politics of race in South Africa.  I was curious about how economics played into class vs. how much race factored into class.  How is race different from the United States?  I've heard South Africa depicted as the California of Africa.  In this article there is very much a different story to be told about the country.  I would have liked more information about race especially politically.

Overall, I thought the writing was interesting.  The personal is political and that was most definitely Foster's angle.