Responding to the debate on his State of the Nation address in the National Assembly yesterday, an emotional Zuma accused Mulder - whom he appointed deputy minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries in 2009 - of failing to show good leadership after he told MPs that Africans could not lay claim to 40% of South Africa's land.
In an unprecedented and dramatic move, Zuma was interrupted by a Freedom Front Plus MP as he addressed Mulder on the matter, a move that did not go down well on ANC benches.
On Wednesday, Mulder told the National Assembly that Africans did not have a legal and historic claim to up to 40% of South Africa's land because they migrated from northern Africa.
In his speech, Mulder referred to Africans as "Bantu" and said they could not claim the Western Cape and parts of the Northern Cape as land that belongs to them.
"There is sufficient proof that there were no Bantu-speaking people in the Western Cape and the northwestern Cape. These parts form 40% of South Africa's land surface," Mulder said.
Zuma came out with guns blazing on the issue yesterday, telling Mulder to handle the land question sensitively
"The land question is one of the most emotive issues in our history and [at] present, and must be handled with utmost care and not in the careless and callous manner that the honourable Mulder handled it," Zuma said in an unusual and dramatic dressing-down of a member of his executive.
"We urge Mulder to tread very carefully on this matter. It is extremely sensitive and, to the majority of people in this country, it is a matter of life and death. That is why we have been very careful in this matter and I don't think we should provoke emotions. It is wrong, it is not good leadership - no matter what your constituency thinks."
This prompted Freedom Front Plus MP Petrus Groenewald to interrupt Zuma in an attempt to defend his leader. He sought to ask Zuma a question.
In terms of the rules of parliament, MPs are allowed to pose clarification questions to those making speeches in the National Assembly. But house decorum and tradition dictates that the president is not interrupted when he makes his State of the Nation address or responds to the debate on his speech.
Angry ANC MPs attempted to shout Groenewald down, but Zuma allowed him his question.
"Do you think it is responsible leadership if some leaders in the ANC constantly tell white people that they have stolen the land and thereby are thieves?" asked Groenewald.
A calm Zuma said he would not give the Freedom Front Plus MP a lesson on how the land ended up in the hands of the white minority.
"I'm sure the honourable member does not want me to get to the land question, how the land happened to be in the hands of the minority in the country . We are dealing with this matter responsibly. That does not change the facts of history," Zuma said.
He added that there were factors slowing down redistribution of land, such as the lengthy process of acquiring and redistributing land, which often drives up the price of the targeted land.
Zuma also defended the recent decision by his cabinet to conduct a review of all Constitutional Court judgments.
He said the assessment would reflect on the impact judgements of superior courts have had on the goal of transforming society and it was not an attempt to undermine the independence of the judiciary.
"We reiterate that this exercise must not be viewed as an attempt by government to undermine the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law, which are enshrined in the constitution. It is in reality an enhancement of our constitutional democracy," he said.
Analysts and opposition parties have questioned the government's motives in conducting the review, fearing that this was an attempt to muzzle the judiciary.
Zuma also took on opposition parties - especially the IFP and the PAC - that have argued that their role in the liberation struggle has been diminished by the ANC .
He told PAC leader Letlapa Mphahlele and IFP MP Albert Mcwango, who in his speech had argued that Zuma was attempting to write party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi from history books, that it was up to those parties, and not the ANC, to honour their own leaders.
He also tackled Buthelezi's claim that his State of the Nation speech had not to addressed many failings of the ANC government.
"I dealt with these matters, even today [at] Home Affairs . An experienced minister who had run a homeland could not turn it around. We turned it around," he said, a swipe at Buthelezi's 10-year stint at Home Affairs, during which the department was riddled with mismanagement and corruption.
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