Dear Mr President, please be my Valentine
SHE has been an admirer of Jacob Zuma ever since he captured her heart with his snazzy dance moves and, as Valentine’s Day approaches, East London insurance adviser Karen Katz wants the president to know she is longing to kiss him. Katz, 46, who lives and works in Kwelera, has made romantic Valentine’s Day cards for the man she wants to meet more than anyone else in South Africa. Bearing the message “Happy Valentine’s Day” and the smiling face of Katz next to the object of her affections, the cards are emblazoned with golden hearts. “You can see we look nice together,” said Katz, adding that she would like nothing more than to kiss and hug the president before treating him to a big plate of her best friend’s cooking. “I would be nervous on our first date and wouldn’t eat that much. I would also like to chat to him sitting under the trees,” said the bubbly divorcee, who has not had a date for 25 years and whose admiration for the president is so intense that people who know her call her “Mama Zuma”. “I have not dated anyone – I’m waiting for Zuma. Some people think I’m joking, but the whole world must know how much I like him,” said Katz, who has been an ANC member since 1984. “When he became president I thought he was charming and I have always liked him . . . He deserves a Valentine’s card because he has had a tough year. “He is so charismatic, a lekker guy and not a stuck-up person. He is a people’s person . . . And I love the way he dances. I want to hug and kiss him and tell him how much he’s loved.” The mother of three children in their twenties said she was not the only one who has set her sights on getting up close and personal with Zuma. “We are a group of ANC ladies who all want to meet him, but we just don’t know how to do it . . . That is why I decided to make the cards and approach the media.”
Asked if she would be keen to take a relationship with Zuma further than just a kiss, Katz said: “I would cross that bridge if I came to it . . . But even if I just kiss him once, I will die happy.”
This is a version of an article that appeared in the print edition of the Weekend Post on Saturday, February 8, 2014.
