South Africans have been called on to join a picket in support of axed deputy president Jacob Zuma at the start of his rape trial in Johannesburg on Monday.
”We call for this picket mainly to raise our opposition and rejection of the manner in which comrade Jacob Zuma has been treated by some within some organs of state and institutions of democracy,” the Friends of Jacob Zuma Trust said on Wednesday.
The Gauteng spokesperson for the trust, Kaizer Mohau, told reporters about 5 000 people are expected to attend the picket outside the Johannesburg High Court.
He said the trust has not yet applied to the police to hold the picket, but expects the paperwork to be completed by Friday.
Zuma is accused of raping a family friend at his home in the Johannesburg suburb of Forest Town last year. He has publicly denied the rape allegation.
Asked how Zuma is, Silas Zuma, a relative of the former deputy president, said: ”He has always been positive right through, actually to the surprise of the family.”
He said the family also wants Zuma’s supporters to participate in Monday’s picket, as they believe he is guilty of neither the rape nor the corruption charges he is facing. ”As a family we don’t believe, because we take his word. He has told us he is not guilty … and we believe that.”
Kaizer said the trust will continue to support Zuma because it believes he remains innocent until proven guilty by a ”credible” court of law.
Asked if this support includes helping to pay for the rape trial, Mohau reiterated that the trust will raise money only for Zuma’s corruption trial, which goes to court in Durban on July 31.
Asked to comment on reports that the African National Congress Women’s League would march in support of the alleged victim if the trust picketed in support of Zuma, he said the Constitution guarantees everyone’s right to protest. ”No one will be against them [the women’s league], and we expect no one to be against us as we picket.”
The trust also called on Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula to start a probe urgently into the death of its Gauteng chairperson, George Nene.
It cannot be ruled out that he was killed by Zuma’s opponents, as his death came at a time when Nene was gathering support for the picket, Mohau said. Nene was killed in a car accident in southern Johannesburg on Saturday night.
Mohau said police told trust members that Nene’s car and another car collided. The driver and passenger of the other car were also killed.
”He was possibly running away from some people and that is why he had the accident,” Mohau said. ”We have among us those who correctly or otherwise have the perception that there might be some unexplained angles in terms of how this accident happened. We therefore believe this investigation will unveil anything underneath these perceptions.”
The trust also commented on the investigation into the death of mining magnate Brett Kebble, a backer of the ANC.
”We have equally noted the manner in which people like Brett Kebble have died and the manner our country is treating these matters, as if nothing wrong is happening. We are worried about how the police can make such silly mistakes in such a high-profile case,” he said.
Police have been accused of bungling the investigation into the death of Kebble, who was murdered in Johannesburg on September 27 last year. — Sapa