Zuma’s chess strategy explained…

The outcome of the historic 2024 elections has its roots in the rift between the camps of former President Jacob Zuma and current President Cyril Ramaphosa that formed after the NASCREC conference in 2017. In this interview with BizNews, macroeconomic and political analyst Phumlani M. Majozi, who is also the author of “Lessons from Past Heroes”, explains the strategy followed by Zuma, an avid chess player. He describes how Zuma came to view the Ramaphosa faction as a group of people who were after him and who mistreated him. “And up it went and went and went and went up until to a point where Zuma said, I guess as a chess player himself, he said, I'm going to strategise it. I need to hurt these people in the 2024 election. And that is what exactly happened. ” Majozi describes how Zuma used his huge support in KZN, a province that his very popularity won for the ANC, to fight back against the ANC. He shares his theories on Zuma’s end game and the benefits the former president likely wants from regaining “an influence in how things go in governance”. Majozi examines the factors that will determine the future of the ANC and Ramaphosa, and outlines the coalition formation needed to push the ANC into pro-market, pro-growth policies. He also examines the future of democracy in South Africa post May 29.