Jacob Zuma is 'overseas for medical reasons' and Mzansi has questions

09 December 2019 - 10:16
By Unathi Nkanjeni
Given the timing, many on social media have suggested Jacob Zuma's illness was 'convenient'.
Image: File Given the timing, many on social media have suggested Jacob Zuma's illness was 'convenient'.

News that former president Jacob Zuma had taken ill and was undergoing “treatment” overseas has left many asking questions.

According to a Sunday World report, Zuma is seeking treatment for an illness linked to an alleged 2014 poison plot. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) declined in September to investigate claims that he had been poisoned.

TimesLIVE reported that Zuma's lawyers in a letter to the Zondo commission said he was in hospital in a foreign country and that he would miss the deadline to respond to an application by Redi Tlhabi to cross-examine him. The commission is yet to indicate how it will respond to Zuma's “ill health”.

Tlhabi applied to cross-examine Zuma at the commission earlier this year after Zuma accused her of being a “spy” and part of a group that “co-ordinated [an] attempt to assassinate” his character.

She said she had received death threats after the former president's testimony.

Here is a snapshot of the reactions.