How Zuma wife was ejected by spy boss
MaNtuli breaks her silence on alleged plot to poison president
PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma’s estranged wife Nompumelelo Ntuli-Zuma says State Security Minister David Mahlobo kicked her out of the family’s Nkandla homestead and ordered her to take her three children with her.
Breaking her silence on the matter, she said the dramatic episode took place at the beginning of the year when she was told to pack her belongings and leave Nkandla.
Speaking through her lawyers on Friday, MaNtuli said Mahlobo told her she could not be at the homestead because of “a sensitive matter” his intelligence department was investigating. The minister was apparently referring to an alleged plot to poison the president.
MaNtuli denies any involvement in the alleged plot.
In reply to questions from the Sunday Times, MaNtuli revealed that her husband never confronted her about the allegations.
“Ms Ntuli-Zuma was instructed to leave the Nkandla homestead during the first week of January 2015. She was instructed to leave the homestead together with her and Zuma’s three minor children,” said BDK Attorneys’ director and MaNtuli’s lawyer, Ulrich Roux.
“Her husband, Mr Jacob Zuma, did not [personally] instruct her to leave the homestead. The minister of state security instructed Ntuli-Zuma to leave the homestead.
“The minister’s reason for instructing Ms Ntuli-Zuma to leave . . . was because there was an alleged ‘sensitive matter’ which needed to be investigated and that she was not allowed to be present during the said investigation.”
As security minister, Mahlobo would be involved in matters relating to the president’s security, but it remains unclear why Zuma avoided confronting his wife himself about the allegations.
Roux added that Mahlobo had told MaNtuli that “his office would keep her updated as to the progress of the alleged investigation and that she would be informed as to what, if anything, was required from her”.
“To date,” said Roux, “Mahlobo has had no meeting with Ntuli-Zuma.”
The police took over the matter in June and asked MaNtuli “to answer a number of questions pertaining to the alleged investigation into a socalled plot to kill her husband”.
Said Roux: “[MaNtuli] has answered the questions as requested from her and has given her full cooperation pertaining to the alleged investigation into this matter.”
The South African Police Service confirmed to Ntuli-Zuma that no
investigation had been carried out whatsoever prior to their [the SAPS’s] involvement.
The Sunday Times reported earlier this year that MaNtuli had been banned from Nkandla following claims of a plot to poison the president and that suspicion had fallen on her after Zuma fell ill in June last year.
The poison was reportedly picked up by American doctors during Zuma’s trip to the US.
He later sought a second opinion from Russian doctors.
The president spent a few days in Russia — with the official word from government being that he was there “to rest”.
It has transpired that the probe into the alleged plot to poison Zuma is being spearheaded by Mahlobo’s department, working with the Hawks.
Among those questioned are friends of MaNtuli’s whose overseas travels and business dealings have been scrutinised.
One of them is high-flying Durban businessman Mabheleni Ntuli (who has no blood relation to Zuma’s wife).
Contacted last week, Ntuli initially denied being interviewed by authorities, but later recanted after being pressed by the Sunday Times.
“They asked me about MaNtuli’s whereabouts and I said I did not know where she was. They never questioned me about any poison plot. Go and ask the [State Security Agency] what they asked me . . . why don’t they tell you the answers to your questions?” he said.
He further questioned why MaNtuli was being implicated in the alleged plot.
“How would I or MaNtuli poison him? So many people cook for the president and he has three eating places . . . MaNtuli is not my sister. She was introduced to me by Zuma, not the other way round. I come a long way with Zuma,” said Ntuli, who also hails from Nkandla.
Ntuli’s ties to Zuma date back many years. At one stage he was known as the president’s benefactor, publicly donating money to the Friends of Jacob Zuma Trust.
It is understood that investigators have no interest in prosecuting MaNtuli but would rather go after her alleged coconspirators.
“She would have to be a section 204 [state witness] . . . there are still gaps in the story but we believe that there are foreign people involved who wanted regime change in the country. We want to out them,” said an intelligence operative privy to the investigation.
While Roux said MaNtuli was “co-operating” with investiga- tors, he denied that she had been “approached by any authorities to become a state witness in any matter”.
She confirmed that Mabheleni Ntuli was “a good friend” of hers who was introduced to her by her husband. She said she had not “implicated” Ntuli in “any matters”.
Mahlobo yesterday failed to respond to questions about his involvement in MaNtuli’s eviction from the president’s home, saying — via SMS — that he was in a meeting in Botswana.
Last week, he told the Sunday Times that he knew nothing about the investigation: “Well, I don’t know because issues of investigation are handled by operatives. I will check what kind of investigation — whether it was my intelligence or [police] crime intelligence ... I will check on this,” he said, adding that he had only read about the issue in newspapers.
Zuma’s office declined to comment, with his spokesman, Bongani Majola, saying he did not speak on “Zuma family matters”.