JUSTICE MALALA | Zuma’s actions are not those of an innocent man

Last week former president Jacob Zuma stood on a podium outside a court of law and, in broad daylight, thanked those involved in the deadly July 2021 riots for allegedly standing up against his imprisonment. He did not say: “No, not in my name.” He did not say: “Blood must not be spilt in defence of me.” He did not say: “Do not steal in my name.”

Instead, this former president of the Republic of South Africa, this man who has twice taken an oath to protect the republic and uphold its constitution, stood in front of his supporters and said: “I thank you for standing beside me when things were tough for me last year.”

Standing by Zuma, we must remember, means that 354 black people died in those riots. Standing by him means that thousands of people were injured and billions of rand were lost to the economy. Many jobs were lost, many factories have shut down, many entrepreneurs have semi-grated or emigrated in fear.

We also know now, from his own mouth, that the looters and murderers of those crazy days and nights in July last year were “his people”, his supporters. We also now know that, by thanking them, he is 100% happy with what they did. One must hope the mothers and fathers of the dead and injured are happy with what he said on that podium last week.

Zuma’s words remind us that his removal from office by the ANC in February 2018 was an act we should be grateful for. Had the party not done so, we would be in far worse trouble today (and, believe me, we are in big trouble right now) than we could ever have imagined. Any “leader” who thanks people for the pure evil that took place in July last year deserves to be in prison, not in the highest office in the land.

Yet I do not know why I am surprised by Zuma’s brazenness in thanking the looters and murderers and arsonists of last July. This, for the man from Nkandla, is par for the course.

According to the Zondo report, he was receiving millions every month from the spy agencies for his own use. He was the mastermind of state capture.

As he stood in front of the Pietermaritzburg court last week, Zuma as usual styled himself as a victim, a man who is being persecuted by so-called “white monopoly capital”, by his ANC comrades, by the police, the spying agencies and all manner of made-up bogeymen. In his usual style, he gives us no evidence for these allegations. Instead, we know for a fact that he was sprung from jail last year by a former chief of the spy agencies who is closely aligned to with him. In truth, according to the Zondo report, he was receiving millions every month from the spy agencies for his own use. He was the mastermind of state capture.

Zuma is no victim. He is a victimiser and has always been one. As he spoke last week, he was bringing a spurious, time-wasting, private prosecution against state prosecutor advocate Billy Downer and News24 journalist Karyn Maughan. It is nothing but an act of intimidation, an attempt to get Downer to be cowed from his prosecution of Zuma in his arms deal corruption trial, and to criminalise Maughan and any other journalist’s dogged reporting on Zuma’s alleged high crimes and misdemeanours.

Zuma is playing the man and woman, not the game. He is prosecuting Downer as part of his Stalingrad strategy merely to delay, delay and delay his corruption trial. It has been 17 years now and he is still dodging his day in court. These are not the actions of an innocent man. They are the actions of a man desperately trying to avoid — by any means necessary — accounting in a court of law.

There is hope though. If you meet Siboniso Duma, the new KZN ANC chair, kindly give the man a hug. He may have stood next to Zuma outside the Pietermaritzburg court last week, but he has thankfully cut the umbilical cord between the ANC in the province and Zuma by refusing to endorse Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma for the presidency of the ANC. Zuma was desperate for his former wife to be the next party president.

That means Zuma as a political force, a malignant one at that, is practically gone. There were a pathetic 200 people at his court appearance last week. There will be even fewer at his next appearances. His influence over the ANC KZN has gone up in smoke. The man who has poisoned our political well for so long, a man who is proud of the actions of those who caused the deaths of 354 people, will hopefully trouble us less in the future. Prosecuting journalists, as an act, is the last kicks of this dying horse.

We should be happy for that.