By Moshoeshoe Monare
African National Congress President Jacob Zuma says once he becomes president he will refuse to hand over his cellphone to his bodyguards, continue laughing out loud and keep travelling on SAA to connect with the masses.
Answering his cellphone several times during an interview with Weekend Argus in Durban, Zuma says he can't do without his phone.
A simple phone, cheaper than that of his aides', Zuma answers it directly despite several personal assistants who travel with him all over the world and around the country.
But he is not alone: President Kgalema Motlanthe also kept his phone after assuming office last spring.
Like US President Barack Obama, who refused to hand over his BlackBerry to the secret service, Zuma says: "I will still want to keep my phone and talk to ordinary people. I don't agree with these protocol things."
You are likely to see the country's president on one of your flights, as Zuma says he will not necessarily use the Air Force presidential jet all the time.
"I was actually caught off guard when the presidential jet was bought and I could no longer travel SAA (when I was still deputy president of the country). I am going to travel SAA so I can meet and speak to passengers. I should be able to show confidence in our public system. People will trust our facilities once they see a president in the plane with them," he says.
Zuma says he will not moderate his hearty laughter merely because he is the president of the country.
Asked if he would stop singing, he says: "No, I ought to be myself. I will continue singing. Why can't I?"
During his campaign for the ANC presidency and on this year's campaign trails, Zuma punctuated his rallies with battle songs, at times to the embarrassment of his aides.
He says he will not allow his security to tell him that "I can't eat meat under a tree with my people... I am still an ordinary man".
He says as much as he will drive foreign policy by attending global forums to influence international relations, he will still be with the people.
"I believe it is so important to see that grandmother, it is absolutely crucial.
"In my view if you are a president, you ought to know and understand what your people think, all of them, what a grandmother in the most rural area thinks, what a professor at one of our leading universities thinks.
"As a president, you need to take a drive to wherever and see and meet people (and find out) what they think of government," he says.