S’THEMBISO MSOMI | There’s an awful lot of feasting going on in Nkandla. What’s really up?

I have been to Nkandla on several occasions over the years. During one visit I even made it onto the premises of the renowned KwaDakwadunuse homestead, where I saw, for the first time, what a “fire pool” looks like.

Sadly, in all my trips to the rural town with an incredibly rich history, I have never been invited for tea with its most famous resident.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining. As a political journalist I have had several instances where I shared a table with former president Jacob Zuma and witnessed how fond the man is of his rooibos tea.

You’d think that for a man so proud of his heritage, his favourite brand would be Ntingwe Tea, which is produced on an estate near Nsuze River, a few villages from KwaDakwadunuse.

Now I don’t know much about other parts of the country, but in most of KwaZulu-Natal, when someone says they have 'itiye', or a tea party, you must come prepared for a feast.

But no, it has to be rooibos, from Cederberg. Well, I guess radical economic transformation (RET) loyalists would argue that Cederberg is still some distance from Stellenbosch.

Today, I hear, is the turn of the uMkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans’ Association (MKMVA) to have tea with the Old Man in Nkandla.

Its spokespeople have been hard-pressed the whole week to convince a sceptical public that their planned excursion is not inspired by the desire to mimic EFF leader Julius Malema, who had half the nation glued to their screens when his helicopter landed in Nkandla on Friday.

In defence of the military veterans — genuine and bogus — they are no copycats. Long before Malema could properly pronounce Nkandla, not to mention stand in front of crowds pledging “to kill for Zuma”, disaffected former MK guerrillas were among the first to make regular trips to the homestead.

One December, several months after then president Thabo Mbeki dropped Zuma as his deputy and replaced him with Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, a group of ex-fighters were invited to Nkandla for tea.

Now I don’t know much about other parts of the country, but in most of KwaZulu-Natal, when someone says they have “itiye”, or a tea party, you must come prepared for a feast.

And the former soldiers, many of whom arrived in minibus taxis that had been hired by the association, were not disappointed. A beast was slaughtered and traditional beer flowed in the manner that is befitting of the homestead’s name, KwaDakwadunuse. There was much song and dance.

But there was also some serious business discussed there. It was at this gathering that Zuma officially won the rank and file of former MK combatants, many of whom were unemployed and disillusioned with free SA’s broken promises, over to his presidential campaign.

MKMVA members have remained loyal ever since and are, today, among the very few standing firmly behind him, even though his political power and influence has long evaporated.

After presenting himself to them as a victim of a political conspiracy driven by “enemy agents” who feared having him as president because he allegedly possessed a list of who had collaborated with the apartheid state during the struggle, he basically made them believe his rise to power would mean an end to their suffering and neglect.

And so, for many months to follow, MKMVA members were to be among the most loyal backers of his presidential campaign. They have remained loyal ever since and are, today, among the very few standing firmly behind him, even though his political power and influence has long evaporated.

Expect more of the same today. A beast slaughtered, a feast, song and dance — even a quasi-military parade, an address behind closed doors where the Zondo commission will be added to a long list of institutions that are used by “enemy agents” to try to destroy the man.

In 2006, all of this was done to revive a presidential campaign many had wrongly thought died in June 2005 when the man was fired as deputy president.

In 2021, will these tea meetings be enough to help the man refuse to answer questions before the deputy chief justice and still stay out of jail?