Concert to raise funds for Zuma's legal fees

African National Congress (ANC) deputy president Jacob Zuma was expected to attend a Human Rights Day concert on Wednesday in Pietermaritzburg to raise funds for his legal fees, the Witness reported on Wednesday.

The concert at the Harry Gwala Stadium was to start at 9am and be followed by an all-night vigil in support of Zuma, whose lawyers will be in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Thursday.

The legal team will be opposing attempts by the National Directorate of Public Prosecutions to obtain documents from Mauritius relating to the deputy president’s corruption case.

Zuma was expected to address the crowd shortly after 11am.

Kaizer Mohau, spokesperson for the Friends of Zuma Trust, said the trust will not accept Zuma being recharged.

He added that it chose to hold the concert on Human Rights Day as it wanted to highlight the manner in which Zuma has been treated and the extent that his hard-won human rights have been eroded.

He said that as part of its long-term campaign, the trust is planning to picket outside offices of such institutions as the Human Rights Commission, Lawyers for Human Rights and the Public Protector, to protest against the “loud silence” from these institutions.

Assassination ‘plot’

Meanwhile, an associate of Zuma’s was questioned by the National Prosecuting Authority about a plot to assassinate the KwaZulu-Natal judge president, the Daily News reported on Tuesday.

The afternoon newspaper reported that security surrounding Judge President Vuka Tshabalala was increased after incidents when his entourage was apparently followed by a mysterious BMW.

The newspaper reported that Erwin Ullbricht, an associate of the ANC’s deputy president, was questioned by the Scorpions in August last year.

He was asked about an alleged plot to assassinate Tshabalala, and whether he had been following the judge around. Ullbricht drove a BMW 318i.

The Daily News quoted Ullbricht as saying: “I met the [two National Prosecuting Authority investigators] with my lawyer and they said that they had received information from the director of special operations that there was a threat to [Tshabalala’s] life.

“They said that they believed that I had been following the judge and I was trying to assassinate him. I told them that the days of the justice system harassing the people without evidence were over.”—Sapa