Johannesburg:  Barely an hour before the State of the Nation address last year, President Jacob Zuma's speech was nowhere to be found. Even his political adviser, Charles Nqakula, did not know what was in the final draft.

At this year's address, the president's economic adviser, Mandisi Mpahlwa, was shocked to hear Zuma reveal he would convene an outside panel to review the parastatals.

According to sources close to the presidency, when Zuma was in trouble with the declaration of his interests, he called Michael Hulley, not his legal adviser, Bonisiwe Makhene.  Hulley - the lawyer who saved Zuma's political life - is the real consigliore, cleaning the mess of the don.

All these demonstrate a gap between Zuma and some of his advisers and aides, and a heavy reliance on trusted outside lieutenants when it is tough.  This has caused friction and turbulence in his office, as others are not sure of their roles.

Nqakula and Mpahlwa were among the people included in his fold as a compromise to unite the ANC, fractured by the succession war of 2007, while Makhene - the legal adviser - is a traditional bureaucrat from the state law advisory section.

Zuma's performance in Parliament suggests that his adviser, Ayanda Dlodlo, is not too slick at glossing over the image of a troubled president.

Zuma relies heavily on the ANC officials - the party's top five - for political advice.

Instead of a daily session with Nqakula, as most presidents have with their advisers, Luthuli House Monday meetings become political counselling sessions. These officials extracted an apology from Zuma when he was recently in trouble for fathering a child out of wedlock.

And when it is really tough and the president needs an emotional counsellor, he calls KwaZulu-Natal premier Zweli Mkhize.

When alliance leaders were tinkering with political strategy as the rape story broke in 2005, Mkhize was brought in to intervene at the family level.

He is one of the few party officials invited to close family engagements, including Zuma's wedding with Thobeka Mabhija.

Thabo Mbeki was criticised for not relying on his political adviser, Titus Mafolo, but on his legal adviser Mojanku Gumbi.

Mbeki, according to his former aide, was criticised by Zuma for relying on junior advisers; hence the president brought in Mpahlwa and Nqakula.

But with one blunder after the other, Zuma is paying the price of appointing people whose advice he does not trust. He is feeling the brunt of bringing in aides who are not close enough to question his judgement.

For example, he surprised everyone when he brought in Vusi Mona as deputy director-general of communications, and Vincent Magwenya from Standard Bank as his spokesman.

At the time, some thought Zizi Kodwa - who knows the president's pulse - would head his propaganda machinery.

Kodwa, former spinner for the ANC Youth League, and Police Deputy Minister Fikile Mbalula, then the league's president, confronted Zuma when the rape scandal broke, demanding the truth.

Kodwa campaigned for months outside Johannesburg High Court during Zuma's rape trial. And Zuma never forgot the 40-year old debonair dresser.

Kodwa is one of the few people who can storm into Zuma's office and ask the president the most sensitive question.

That is why when the Sonono Khoza story broke, Kodwa - who is more the Luthuli House functionary than a Union Building staffer - was pulled in to spin.

Kodwa is a PR wizard who spins the troubles away, taking the heat in the process. He is to Zuma what Alistair Campbell was to Tony Blair. He is shrewd and, like Zuma, hides his sharp edge behind a smile.

After he was fired as deputy president in 2005, and Mbeki's ANC isolated him, he relied on Ranjeni Munusamy and Liesl Gottert for PR and on others such as Mo Shaik for political strategy. However, since he has been in the Union Buildings, he has relied heavily on his deputy director-general and head of private office, Lakela Kaunda, who has been with him for years.

As he comes under fire, Zuma is likely to restructure his office and appoint people he trusts - or his presidency will be sidetracked by tense in-fighting.

*  By Moshoeshoe Monare and Sibusiso Ngalwa

• This article was originally published on page 5 of The Sunday Tribune on March 14, 2010