Zuma has skillfully used Zulu or African 'traditions' to cover-
up poor personal choices, indiscretions and wrong behavior, and
portrayed those who oppose such poor behavior of being opposed
to African 'traditions' or 'culture,' argues William Gumede. For
most of the 100 years of the ANC's history, two distinct strands
of Zulu nationalism competed for dominance in the ANC, but
especially in the KwaZulu Natal wing of the party, the one
conservative, and more closed-off, the other, progressive and
more inclusive of other communities. Since the death of Zulu
King Cetshwayo in 1883, the leitmotif of politics in what has
become known as Zululand has been how to hold together the
different communities within the larger Zulu community as a
recognizable unit, following repeated attempts by colonial
governments and later apartheid governments to break it up,
through divide-and-rule tactics and appointments of pliant
chiefs, and civil wars within. Within this overarching drive,
different approaches emerged over how exac