The state should be asked to pay Jacob Zuma’s legal fees, the tripartite alliance said on Thursday after discussing the controversy over the axed former deputy president the day before.
”We are urging comrade Zuma’s lawyers to actually ask the state to fund the cause of his legal defence,” South African Communist Party (SACP) general secretary Blade Nzimande said on South African Broadcasting Corporation radio.
The reason for this is that the allegations against Zuma relate to the time when he was a provincial minister in KwaZulu-Natal and deputy president of the country, he said.
Senior members of the SACP, the African National Congress, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the South African National Civic Organisation met for several hours on Wednesday to discuss the Zuma saga.
Nzimande said the recent raids by the Scorpions on Zuma’s residences were also condemned.
”We outrightly condemn the behaviour of the Scorpions in raiding the homes of the deputy president.
”The brandishing of weapons as if you are looking for a criminal — we think that is unacceptable and, in fact, we think that represents some of the worst features of what the apartheid regime and security forces [did],” he said.
The Scorpions raided Zuma’s homes in search of evidence for the charges against him.
On Wednesday, National Prosecuting Authority head Vusi Pikoli defended the heavily armed raids, saying they are a normal operational requirement.
Such searches need to be carried out ”without interference”.
Pikoli said the purpose of the raid was definitely not to embarrass or humiliate Zuma.
The alliance meeting came after Cosatu’s central committee resolved to call on President Thabo Mbeki to ensure corruption charges against Zuma are dropped.
It also wants Mbeki to reinstate Zuma as his deputy.
Some Cosatu members believe there is a politically inspired conspiracy to stop Zuma from becoming the next president of the ANC because he is seen to be too close to the working class.
Zuma’s goes to court again in Durban in October. — Sapa