# South African Pres. Booed. Also, Homophobia Question... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 11, 2013, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-african-pres-booed-also-homophobia-question/676060 "2013-12-11T08:56:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-african-pres-booed-also-homophobia-question/676060/1 "2013-12-11T08:56:35Z")
According to the tv news, ABC’s to be exact (I believe), South African president Jacob Zuma was recently booed. It was during Nelson Mandela’s funeral. Why would (some) people boo him? What is he alleged to have done wrong? They didn’t say, or if they did, I missed it. Also, there is another question (I _hope_, unrelated) I have been wondering about for a long time (and I might as well include it here, since it also involves South Africa). How do S. Africans respond to their country’s unusually liberal policies towards gays? [Here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_South_Africa) is the whole story, in case you don’t know. There reason why I wonder and ask, is because South Africa ranks very low on the scale of countries that openly accept homosexuality. Again, [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Societal_attitudes_towards_homosexuality.svg) is the graph. Read it for yourself. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-african-pres-booed-also-homophobia-question/676060/2 "2013-12-11T09:45:36Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#): > > What is he alleged to have done wrong? They didn’t say, or if they did, I missed it. What do bent politicians usually do? They enrich themselves on the expense of the people. At least the only explanation that I can come up with. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-african-pres-booed-also-homophobia-question/676060/3 "2013-12-11T09:49:19Z")
In a democracy, roughly half of the country disliking the guy in charge isn’t a bug, it’s a feature. ---
**Author:** ![ctnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@ctnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctnguy)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-african-pres-booed-also-homophobia-question/676060/4 "2013-12-11T10:38:51Z")
Google “Nkandla”. He spent hundreds of millions of taxpayer rands on construction at his private residence. He claimed that taxpayer money was only used for security features needed because he’s President, and that he paid himself for the rest of the construction. But an investigation by the Public Protector (an independent ombudsman) has revealed that the supposed “security” features included such things as a swimming pool and a massive guesthouse. And in any case the law doesn’t allow spending on the President’s private residence as there are official residences in Cape Town and Pretoria. And the administration lied to Parliament about the spending. And they attempted to get the courts to block publication of the Public Protector’s report, on the basis that it would harm the President’s security. And they tried to tell the media not to publish photos of the residence, for the same reason. ---
**Author:** ![ctnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@ctnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctnguy)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-african-pres-booed-also-homophobia-question/676060/5 "2013-12-11T11:05:05Z")
As to your second question, most of the people don’t like it, but it’s not generally used as a party-political issue. South Africans mostly don’t base their vote on ‘social’ issues like gay rights; people vote on the basis of economic issues, perceived comptence/corruption, or what for lack of a better term I’d call ‘racial identity’ - e.g. white people vote for the DA because it’s the ‘white’ party. The African Christian Democratic Party, which is the major social-conservative party and makes its platform all about abortion, gay rights etc., got 0.8% of the vote last time round. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-african-pres-booed-also-homophobia-question/676060/6 "2013-12-11T12:01:26Z")
> **[Jacob Zuma rape trial](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Zuma_rape_trial)** > > African National Congress > President (2009–2018) > President of the African National Congress (2007–2017) > Deputy President (1999–2005) > South African politician Jacob Zuma – later the President of South Africa – was charged with rape on 6 December 2005. He was prosecuted in the Johannesburg High Court between March and May 2006. On 8 May, the Court dismissed the charges, agreeing with Zuma that the sex act in question had been consensual. During the trial, Zuma admitted to having unprotected sex... ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-african-pres-booed-also-homophobia-question/676060/7 "2013-12-11T12:15:23Z")
> [@ctnguy](#): > > As to your second question, most of the people don’t like it, but it’s not generally used as a party-political issue. South Africans mostly don’t base their vote on ‘social’ issues like gay rights; people vote on the basis of economic issues, perceived comptence/corruption, or what for lack of a better term I’d call ‘racial identity’ - e.g. white people vote for the DA because it’s the ‘white’ party. The African Christian Democratic Party, which is the major social-conservative party and makes its platform all about abortion, gay rights etc., got 0.8% of the vote last time round. That’s pretty much true in all representative democracies. Social issues might make up a lot of the public debate but people vote for what directly effects them. Usually economic issues are well above social issues on most people’s personal lists. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-african-pres-booed-also-homophobia-question/676060/8 "2013-12-11T13:09:09Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#): > > According to the tv news, ABC’s to be exact (I believe), South African president Jacob Zuma was recently booed. It was during Nelson Mandela’s funeral. Why would (some) people boo him? What is he alleged to have done wrong? They didn’t say, or if they did, I missed it. ctnguy covered it, it’s about [Nkandla](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nkandla#Presidential_homestead) more than anything. I also would not discount a lot of the boo-ers being [EFF](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_Freedom_Fighters) plants, because those guys are dicks. > [@](#): > > Also, there is another question (I _hope_, unrelated) I have been wondering about for a long time (and I might as well include it here, since it also involves South Africa). How do S. Africans respond to their country’s unusually liberal policies towards gays? With pride (speaking for this South African) > [@](#): > > [Here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_South_Africa) is the whole story, in case you don’t know. There reason why I wonder and ask, is because South Africa ranks very low on the scale of countries that openly accept homosexuality. Again, [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Societal_attitudes_towards_homosexuality.svg) is the graph. Read it for yourself.🙂 The Constitution of SA is an aspirational document - as such, it embodies some principles that the majority may not yet accept, in the name of human rights. A similar example is capital punishment - some polls say a majority of South Africans favour it. Tough. Also, we’re a frigging shining beacon of enlightenment compared to the rest of Africa (and Asia except Japan and Israel) > [@Colophon](#): > > [Jacob Zuma rape trial - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Zuma_rape_trial) Old news. Really old news, and unrelated to this occasion. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-african-pres-booed-also-homophobia-question/676060/9 "2013-12-11T14:19:43Z")
And here I thought they were just shouting his name - “Zooooo-ma”. Ignorance fought. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-african-pres-booed-also-homophobia-question/676060/10 "2013-12-11T16:05:42Z")
Obama was wildly cheered by the crowd. Presumably, at home, he would never be booed by any audience in the USA, right? It’s all internal politics. My favourite was when the Toronto Blue Jays had their first home game (ever). First, it snowed a little… after everyone in Canada had spent their life explaining to Americans “No, it does not snow here all the time.” Then, the announcer said “in the VIP box, we have the premier of Ontario, Bill Davis!”. The entire stadium booed loudly - then off in a corner, the chant started “we want beer!”. Pretty soon the whole stadium was chanting “we want beer, we want beeeeer…” The commentators explained to the astounded American audience that in Canada, you could not serve beer at public events. Within a few months, beer was permitted in the Blue Jays stadium, and eventually it became a standard across Canada. Finally, we could have beer at hockey games too, to the horror of those rural god-fearing conservatives who had institued the next best thing to prohibition. Ah, crowds… ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-african-pres-booed-also-homophobia-question/676060/11 "2013-12-11T17:03:04Z")
I heard something on NPR that discussed this in passing–apparently there is or at least seems to be a lot of corruption around Zuma. I do think it’s amazing he’d be booed at a funeral for the father of the country. ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-african-pres-booed-also-homophobia-question/676060/12 "2013-12-11T17:25:02Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > That’s pretty much true in all representative democracies. Social issues might make up a lot of the public debate but people vote for what directly effects them. Usually economic issues are well above social issues on most people’s personal lists. You must not be familiar with U.S. politics. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-african-pres-booed-also-homophobia-question/676060/13 "2013-12-11T20:42:18Z")
> [@ctnguy](#): > > He claimed that taxpayer money was only used for security features needed because he’s President, and that he paid himself for the rest of the construction. But an investigation by the Public Protector (an independent ombudsman) has revealed that the supposed “security” features included such things as a swimming pool and a massive guesthouse. Maybe the swimming pool was a moat. That counts as a security feature, right? ---
**Author:** ![ctnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@ctnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctnguy)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-african-pres-booed-also-homophobia-question/676060/14 "2013-12-11T20:48:20Z")
The pretext was that the pool could serve as a reservoir for fighting bushfires. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-african-pres-booed-also-homophobia-question/676060/15 "2013-12-11T21:01:49Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#): > > Also, there is another question (I _hope_, unrelated) . . . It would be a lot easier for people if you didn’t combine unrelated subjects in the same thread. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-african-pres-booed-also-homophobia-question/676060/16 "2013-12-11T22:08:04Z")
> [@TSBG](#): > > You must not be familiar with U.S. politics. You’re kidding right? I was speaking specifically about the US. Social issues get the talking heads yelling at each other but voters vote with their wallet. The economy is always at the top of the issues. > **[Latest Election 2024 News and Updates | Fox News Elections Center](https://www.foxnews.com/elections)** > > Find information about the 2024 elections from Fox News. Stay up-to-date with the upcoming 2024 presidential election news, predictions, and live updates daily. [http://www.cnn.com/election/2012/campaign-issues.html](http://www.cnn.com/election/2012/campaign-issues.html) > **[Importance of Issues](https://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/mood_of_america/importance_of_issues)** > > The economy continues to be the top issue on voters’ minds, but government spending has now worked its way into the top three on the list of 15 major issues regularly tracked by Rasmussen Reports.Seventy-two percent (72%) of Likely U.S. Voters say... > **[Most Important Problem](https://news.gallup.com/poll/1675/most-important-problem.aspx)** > > What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today? \[Open-ended\] > **[Central issues of Election 2012](https://timelines.latimes.com/central-issues-election-2012/)** > > By David LauterECONOMYTAXESDEFICITSOCIAL SECURITYMEDICAREHEALTH CAREREGULATIONFOREIGN POLICYIMMIGRATIONVALUES > > > > hoever wins the presidential election in November will confront urgent problems: Should tax cuts scheduled to expire be renewed? Should... [http://www.policymic.com/articles/5178/5-biggest-issues-for-the-2012-presidential-election](http://www.policymic.com/articles/5178/5-biggest-issues-for-the-2012-presidential-election) I could go on with plenty more cites. Find a poll in which economic issues are not at the top of most important issues in a national election. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-african-pres-booed-also-homophobia-question/676060/17 "2013-12-12T00:08:18Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > Presumably, at home, he would never be booed by any audience in the USA, right? [Not right](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/17/obamas-basketball-game_n_4293334.html). ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-african-pres-booed-also-homophobia-question/676060/18 "2013-12-12T05:53:21Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > It would be a lot easier for people if you didn’t combine unrelated subjects in the same thread. 🙂 There both are related to politics and social issues in South Africa. Sounds “related” to me.🙂