Prayer ‘to thank God for protecting Zuma’
While his lieutenant Carl Niehaus says his health is improving, thanks to his prison parole, Jacob Zuma was still playing the long-suffering victim yesterday as he thanked his supporters for their support and prayers.
His Jacob Zuma Foundation called the day of prayer for “protection against dark forces that want to finish him”.
Zuma said: “The fact that you came to support me means a lot to me. Today we have state government by those who know what it is like being oppressed.
“This state has imprisoned me for the contempt of court without a trial. Something has gone wrong in this country.”
The recently suspended and reinstated ANC member Niehaus said Zuma was doing well under the circumstances.
“His health is still improving. It’s going better. We are glad he got medical parole,” he said.
Niehaus said it was important to welcome Zuma back because many people were concerned about his condition and how he was doing.
“They want to see for themselves that he is okay,” he said.
Niehaus said he spent a whole day with Zuma last week.
“It was very nice, we laughed and talked. He drank tea and I had coffee, I’m a Boer,” he said.
Niehaus said Zuma was happy that his suspension was lifted.
“He laughed and said how could they kick me out of the ANC, it’s impossible. They just have to accept we are part of the ANC. Zuma said we cannot be kicked out. We are ANC,” Niehaus said.
The foundation described Zuma as a symbol of the oppression of the people of South Africa and added Zuma was loved by many South Africans who have been very worried about his incarceration.
“People of South Africa are still grieving that their hero, a true freedom fighter, a man that sacrificed spending quality time with his family was dealt a severe and unjust blow by the democracy that he fought so tirelessly for,” the foundation said.
The organisation said the Constitutional Court decided to characterise Zuma’s case as extraordinary and went ahead into arbitrary grounds where his right to trial was waived.
“When others of similar offences or worse than his like [former state president] PW Botha were given civil remedies as prescribed by the law, Zuma was given a punitive sentence without even an option of a fine. Where is equality in that?”
The foundation said the prayer was to thank God for protecting Zuma.
“This prayer will also be about asking God to continue protecting President Zuma and keeping him safe from the dark forces that want to finish him,” the foundation said.
The organisation said Zuma has unfinished business in helping to liberate the people of South Africa.
“The country is a wreck. The country is deeply divided. The foundation is looking up to its patron, Zuma, to fulfil the historical mission of the organisation that lives in his blood, the African National Congress whose founding mission was to unite the African people,” the foundation said.
Speaking virtually to the gathering, Zuma remarked: “The rule of law is losing its essential power, to build strong and united nation. It is becoming a source of conflict rather than a mechanism to adjudicate and resolve civil and political conflicts.
“We want to have a law-governed society, the current constitution sought to assure every citizen – black or white – that never again shall people be denied fundamental human rights.”
He said he made a conscious decision to hand himself over in order to prevent the worst that could have happened had he opted otherwise.
“A situation was looming, and indeed to avoid loss of lives of innocent citizens, including members of my family, I handed myself over to the Estcourt prison.”
Watching the latest edition of the Jacob Zuma circus – brought to you live from Nkandla, the place you paid for, folks – there is a sense, yet again, that he feels he is above the law. While he went into his usual ramble about being a prisoner of conscience, he proceeded to take more political potshots at his perceived nemesis, President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Surely that very act of public speaking would have been a contravention of his parole conditions? That was something which should have got him whisked back to his place at the Estcourt Correctional facility.
His release on parole – while serving his 15-month sentence for contempt of the Constitutional Court, the highest court in the land – has already been clouded in controversy; having been granted by outgoing prison commissioner Arthur Fraser (a Zuma ally) in one of his last official acts … and over-ruling the parole board in the process.
Whether anything is done about Zuma’s provocative speech remains to be seen.
Perhaps Ramaphosa and his supporters believe it best to leave Zuma looking like an embittered latter-day King Lear, raging blindly against the storms of politics and betrayal.
Zuma may see his fate as a tragedy, but he caused tragedy for his country.