In this episode of The Rutherford Report, really a continuation of the previous one, I describe and analyse Zuma's latest manoeuvre, namely the axing of respected Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan along with four other cabinet ministers. This "reshuffle", a ludicrously euphemistic term considering the potential ramifications, is the most extensive by any president since 1996, and has been equated to the infamous "Night of the Long Knives."

After thoroughly denouncing this atrocious assertion of presidential prerogative, nakedly designed to enable even greater looting of the Treasury, I then go on to suggest a few ways that the president's power could be limited, a list by no means remotely exhaustive. It is abundantly clear, however, that South Africa's version of the "monarchie présidentielle", as left-wing French politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon refers to France's current system established by the Fifth Republic in 1958, end as soon as possible to avoid such egregious abuses and profound recklessness in the future. Needless to say, whatever problems might exist in the country I am currently studying in, they drastically pale in comparison to the obscene madness that is a daily reality in South Africa. To that end, not only does the presidency's power have to be dramatically curtailed, and stringent measures put into place to hold any holder of the post to serious account, but the ANC and its Alliance partners have to be vanquished, while new formations should rise from the ashes to rejuvenate a thoroughly moribund political system that is failing on just about every level.

Lastly, I highlight once again the pitiful state of civic engagement among the South African populace. While only wide-scale mobilisation is likely to force that tyrannical madman from high office, the odds of that actually happening are exceedingly long. I hope that, for once, my predictions about political developments in my homeland prove inaccurate, but I shall not be betting money on the prospect, nor even holding onto the tiniest amount of breath in hopes such an unlikely eventuality comes to pass.