Jacob Zuma will not hand himself over to the police by Sunday, according to his son. (Oupa Nkosi)
Jacob Zuma will not hand himself over to the police by Sunday, according to his son, and it is planned that deputy secretary general Jesse Duarte will discuss with the former president the consequences of this week’s constitutional court judgment against him.
Zuma’s controversial son Edward said his father “is not going to report to any police station or to any corrections services. If they want Zuma they must kill us first, we are here camping in his house.”
He said those backing his father had ammunition to deal with any move by the police. “Whoever brings [the] police, we will deal with them. When they throw teargas at us, we will throw one back. We have the ammunition … Any policeman that comes near us, we will shoot to kill, we will defend Zuma.”
On Tuesday, the constitutional court sentenced Zuma to 15 months for contempt of its order compelling him to return to the Zondo commission to face cross-examination and answer questions about evidence led against him.
Reiterating an earlier assertion by the Jacob Zuma Foundation, Edward said the judgment by the apex court was premeditated. This, he said, was clear when the sheriff of the court from Eshowe arrived at Zuma’s Nkandla home shortly after Acting Chief Justice Sisi Khampepe made the judgment to deliver the order.
“What happened to the review application? This judgment sets a bad precedent. It means that it’s pointless to appeal. Where is the review application? We don’t respect the constitutional court,” Edward said.
“If [the] concourt was objective, they should have said that this man made an application to the high court for [Deputy Chief Justice Raymond] Zondo to recuse himself. They should have waited for that judgment but they did not do that. They had every opportunity.
“I would rather not be a member of the ANC. I will rebel against them because I’m fighting for the people,” he said.
A source in the ANC said its top six officials were likely to ask Duarte to handle the Zuma situation bubbling in Nkandla.
Zuma supporters in their numbers have camped out at his Nkandla home and have fired live ammunition in the air since the judgment was handed down on Tuesday. Gunshots and songs in defence of Zuma were captured on video when his supporters marched in Durban on Thursday.
Former youth league president and convicted criminal Andile Lungisa has threatened a national shutdown before Zuma is even incarcerated.
The ANC insider said a meeting of the national executive committee would discuss the brewing tensions in Nkandla.
The ANC insider said Duarte, who is the closest to Zuma among the top six, would urge him to denounce the protesters who are breaching Covid-19 restrictions. She will also ask that he call on them to go back to their homes.
“If Duarte fails, then the top six will go to the Zulu king to call for his subjects to obey the laws of this country before the Wednesday deadline for police to compel him,” the source said.
Lungisa said he was coordinating a plan from his home in Gqeberha for a national shutdown, speaking of plans to bus supporters from the Eastern Cape to defend Zuma at Nkandla.
The ANC in Nelson Mandela Bay said it noted with grave concern posters brandishing organisational emblems circulating on social networks calling for a total shutdown and promoting the “Hands off JZ” campaign.
Regional task team coordinator Luyolo Nqakula said the ANC distanced itself from the shutdown call and the use of the party’s logos.
“Whoever created these posters are in violation of the ANC communications and media publicity policy and as such we will launch an investigation to bring those individuals to book. We will also not hesitate to summarily suspend the membership of any member … who is party to these activities as they are not only illegal but not consistent with the discipline of the ANC,” he said.
The Eastern Cape uMkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans’ Association (MKMVA) western region has written a statement condemning those wanting to take up arms against the state in defence of Zuma.
“These are anarchists of the highest order. They are calling for a country shutdown, completely ignoring the impact such a shutdown would have on the economy of the country,” the regional MKMVA chairperson, Phakamile Ximiya, said in a statement.
“Worse, they are mobilising marches across the country in defiance of the Covid regulations. There is no other way of describing this other than madness. These marches are definitely going to be super-spreaders of Covid.”
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