21 December 2007
	Simply not true Francis Daniels, Melrose Estate

A tissue of errors, fallacies and contradictions is embedded in Cunningham Ngcukana's article in support of Jacob Zuma (On My Mind December 14). Contrary to his claims that Winston Churchill barely had a Standard 8 and John Major no matric equivalent, Churchill completed his secondary school education at Harrow and graduated eighth out of 150 from the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. Major passed six O-level subjects and became an associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers. There is a world of difference between the educational attainments of those two British prime ministers and the primary school qualification of Zuma. Second, it is invalid to infer from the inability of famous economists to prevent gargantuan global financial crises that it is illegitimate to criticise Zuma's low level of economic education. Arguably, the alleged failures of Messrs Greenspan, Volcker and Mbeki only underscore the perils of entrusting sophisticated economies to those possessing only the most basic education. Similarly, that Zuma may not be unique in the cabinet for his intimate nocturnal congregations with young ladies does not erase his uniqueness in becoming the subject of rape accusations. What matters is Zuma's own vices, not those of other politicians. Third, surely Trevor Manuel allocating more money to state departments "with little capacity to spend" in the name of eliminating an "immoral" budget surplus must be "immoral" waste. Better to apply the budget surplus to reduce debt and future interest costs in anticipation of the day when all SA government departments can spend their budgetary allocations. In recommending Zuma as president of the ANC and, by extension, SA, Ngcukana is recommending that SA submit itself to a rare experiment: rule of a sophisticated economy by a primary school graduate. I pray that the poor and unemployed of SA do not suffer from his recommendation.