Destiny in a Name.

Jacob Zuma’s isiZulu name is Gedleyihlekisa. It means: he who smiles with you while he is finishing you off.

UkuZuma, significantly, is to make a surprise attack.

These facts go some way to explaining Mr Zuma’s attitude and actions through the Shaik trail, the rape trail and other travails. Mr Zuma has know in his heart since childhood that he is a surprise attacker, a man who will live to smile while his enemies are terminated with extreme prejudice.

I take this very seriously indeed, and only partly because it comes from Aubrey Mongameli Matshiqi, senior associate political analyst at the Centre for Policy Studies, a man whose own name, the Mongameli part anyway, means president.