In this Post, I have shared some of the most Powerful Jacob Zuma quotes.
Jacob Zuma was born on April 12, 1942. He is a South African former anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the country’s fourth president from 2009 to 2018. He was president of the African National Congress (ANC) between 2007 and 2017.
He joined the ANC as a teenager in 1959 and spent ten years on Robben Island as a political prisoner. In 1975, he went into exile and was eventually named head of the ANC’s intelligence department. Zuma rose fast in the ANC’s national leadership becoming deputy secretary general in 1991, national chairperson in 1994, and deputy president in 1997.
From 1999 until 2005, Jacob Zuma served as South Africa‘s deputy president under Thabo Mbeki.
In the 2009 general election, Zuma was elected president of South Africa and assumed office on May 9, 2009. His presidency, however, was marred by scandal, particularly during his second term; he resigned on February 14, 2018 and was replaced the next day by Cyril Ramaphosa.
25 Jacob Zuma Quotes
- “African problems should have African solutions.”
2. “Once we have the infrastructure in Africa, it should not be blocked by borders.”
3. “What made Nelson Mandela great, was precisely what made him human. We saw in him, what we seek in ourselves.”
4. “Criminality is always the result of poverty. Countries that experience such a fundamental change as we have – we had the apartheid regime and must now develop a multicultural democracy – must necessarily pass through a phase of high crime rates.”
5. “Africa has decided to take matters of instability into its own hands.”
6. “You have fewer rights because you are a minority. Absolutely, that’s how democracy works.”
7. “It is wrong to leave the ANC, in fact, it is cold and rough outside the ANC. People must remain in the party and try to fix things internally because those who do leave they will attract the wrath of the ancestors, who will also bring that person bad luck.”
8. “There is not a single country in the world that is not interested in doing business with China. And no one is seriously concerned about human rights. But Africans are criticized for wanting to do business with China.”
9. “Even if you apply any kind of lotion and straighten your hair you will never be white.”
10. “People tend to try to find something to talk about Zuma. My surname is very nice and simple. Very simple, so they like pronouncing it all the time. Â So what’s the problem?”
Also Read – Cyril Ramaphosa quotes
11. “I don’t think, in a country, you can have people thinking and feeling exactly the same.”
12. “Africa suffered under European dominance for centuries.”
13. “The ancestors will turn their backs against you and you will have bad luck forever if you leave the ANC unhappy”
14. “Same sex marriage is a disgrace to the nation and to God. When I was growing up, ‘ungqingili’ [homosexuals in isiZulu] could not stand in front of me, I would knock him out.”
15. “The majority in this country have not seen anything wrong with Zuma. I go with the overwhelming feeling of this country. If the majority say, ‘Zuma, do this,’ I will do it.”
16. “You don’t just end up with freedom when you have the vote. The struggle continues.”
17. “People are constantly applying double standards. Take the United States, for example. Washington wants the whole world to admire the country for its democracy. Then the government sends out its army, in the name of this democracy, and leaves behind the kind of chaos we see in Iraq.”
17. “Theft and corruption in the private sector is as bad as that in government and must be dealt with decisively by law enforcement agencies.”
18. “If you grow the economy, then you become stronger, and you can resist many other things.”
19. “The economy in South Africa was racially structured for many decades, if not centuries.”
20. “People today think being single is nice. It’s actually not right. That’s a distortion. You’ve got to have kids. Kids are important to a woman because they give extra training to a woman, to be a mother.”
Also Read – Nelson Mandela Quotes
More Jacob Zuma Quotes below
21. “Our media, which is very open and report on really everything, tend to exaggerate the crime issue…This is why one gets the impression that we have much more crime than other countries.”
22. “This reminds me of the time when I was charged in the high court in Pretoria. Everything inside the court was against me — from the police to the top.”
23. “This reminds me of the time when I was charged in the high court in Pretoria. Everything inside the court was against me — from the police to the top,”
24. “The ANC is more important than the Constitution.”
25. “There is no cloud above my head – there is not even a mist.”
My favorite Jacob Zuma quotes are, “What made Nelson Mandela great, was precisely what made him human. We saw in him, what we seek in ourselves.” and “African problems should have African solutions.”