[imagesource: Mujahid Safodien/AFP]

Every day Jacob Zuma spends as a free man is one day too many, but the walls are closing in.

Over the past 18 months, his political power has slowly but surely dwindled, and he may finally be forced to face the music after more than a decade of avoiding any legal retribution.

Later today, for example, he will once again face fraud and corruption charges, and next week he’s back in front of the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture.

Yes, we’re all tired of Zuma appearing in court, and nothing ever coming of it, but the tide may be turning.

Over on the Daily Maverick, Stephen Grootes says Zuma should be running scared:

The last 18 months have seen a massive decline in Zuma’s political power. He appears to have lost the ability to control events. This is a major, and largely overlooked indication of how President Cyril Ramaphosa has managed to grind his opponents out…

It may, one day, be difficult to explain exactly how much power Zuma used to have. How none of the bad things he did always managed to slide over his Teflon-coated shoulders…In a sign of how times can change, few people worry about Zuma’s power any more.

Today, he appears stuck in a maze of legal problems. His only way out of questions during his previous trip to the Zondo Commission was to claim that three people he had appointed to Cabinet were apartheid spies and that he had been the target of a number of assassination attempts. These days he is forced to use his Twitter account in an attempt to distract people from the real events occurring around him.

Obviously, Zuma is not the first head of state to drift into irrelevance after losing power. But he lost so much power so quickly, all the while actively fighting to regain that power.

Excuse me while I play the world’s smallest violin.

Grootes says this stripping of power is the result of a number of factors, including the revelations that have come out of the Zondo Commission.

Sure, many South Africans can hardly muster the energy to pay attention to the Commission at this point, but the damning testimonies do make it harder for Zuma to wriggle off the hook.

Fighting these legal battles requires extensive resources, and that well may be running dry:

…it seems that one aspect is undeniable: it is surely now impossible for Zuma, and any of the people around him, to regain the power they once had. They will not rule this country again.

Instead, their efforts and resources are being spent on staying out of prison. They are trying to avoid prosecution and may be weakening the state only with that intent.

Delwyn Verasamy / M&G

This could be the most important aspect of this dynamic. That Zuma and his faction may have given up all hope of attaining supremacy again, and all that is left is the ability to frustrate those who do have political power.

For now, Zuma has to fight on many fronts. He is likely to lament that he has no money, as the state is no longer paying his legal fees. He may soon start giving the appearance of being yesterday’s person, still of interest, but not an alpha male anymore.

Considering where he once was, that is a crushing fall.

Bleed those coffers dry, and then send him to jail where he belongs.

People talk about the Springboks winning the Rugby World Cup being a unifier (it is, clearly), but imagine the jol in the streets if Zuma was thrown into jail?

Don’t hold your breath, but we can all dream.

[source:dailymaverick]