What I'll miss...
If there's one thing that I'm sure I'll pine for when Thabo Mbeki leaves office, it's his eloquence. Fast-forward three years and, even under the current quagmire of mass hate he finds himself in, I'm pretty sure we'll be casting a jealous eye back to our 'old' president's mannerisms, verbosity and sharp tongue.

Compare:

“Neither the honourable De Lille and Botha spoke of their own responsibilities as such leaders, content to perform on the public stage as militant critics and vigilant watchdogs. As I listened to what they had to say, I asked myself — when will they accept their responsibility to lead, not partisan factions, but the nation?”

“ Together, during the last 14 years, we have recorded remarkable achievements. Acting together, we placed ourselves on course to emerge as a winning nation. Today we face problems, in the same way we faced problems in the past; in the past we overcame these problems and will overcome the new problems we face; in the past we never allowed our problems to condemn us to demoralisation, despondency and pessimism.

“Those who have spoken of the legacy of the president need to know that there is no other legacy the president seeks apart from what has been said above."

To:

BBC: A lot of people think you’re a crook …
ZUMA: Is that so? (laughs) I want to see those people so they can tell me why they think I’m a crook.
BBC: Well there’s a whole army of prosecutors who clearly think it.
ZUMA: Eh-ha? Is that so? Serious?
KEANE: Are you a crook?
ZUMA: Me? Well, I don’t know, I must go to a dictionary and learn what a crook is. I’ve never been a crook ..
KEANE: Somebody who takes money from other people for corrupt purposes?
ZUMA: Have I ever done so?
KEANE: I’m asking you.
ZUMA: No, I think that’s a mistake you guys have made and I’ve said, I can’t have two trials - trial by the media and trial by court. I’m saying I’m not a crook. I have never been a crook. I will never be a crook

Hmmmm....