Supporters plan welcome rally for Zuma

FORMER President Jacob Zuma’s supporters are planning to stage a welcome home rally and celebrate his imminent release on medical parole.

Their announcement comes as the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation yesterday maintained that Zuma’s parole should be above board so that it should not be perceived that the law had been bent to accommodate him.

The DA has since taken the matter to court, seeking to review the decision by head of Correctional Services Arthur Fraser to grant Zuma parole.

In another case, AfriForum has demanded answers from Fraser, giving him until Friday to reveal how Zuma was granted a reprieve from serving his 15-month sentence for contempt of a Constitutional Court order.

But all of this has not perturbed Zuma’s supporters, who are already waiting to hear when he will return to his Nkandla home.

Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA) spokesperson Carl Niehaus said they would keep their ears on the ground and once Zuma was free they would be there to welcome him.

“We are aware that some of our members on the ground are keen and ready to host rallies to welcome president Zuma home … We support that,” Niehaus said yesterday.

It is not clear when Zuma will return to his Nkandla home.

Independent Media understands that he is still with the military health services and would not be going to Nkandla at least until the end of this month.

The KZN Interfaith Counci, under the auspices of Bishop Vusi Dube of the eThekwini Community Church in Durban, said they would be trekking to Nkandla as well to pray for the Zuma family.