MKMVA to jet to Nkandla to offer support to Zuma

THE Umkhonto wesizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA) is set to visit Nkandla to meet former president Jacob Zuma, who is battling it out with the Commission of Inquiry into state capture, which has urged him to take the stand and answer to allegations of state capture.

The visit was announced by the association in a statement issued yesterday. The meeting is scheduled to take place on Thursday.

Leading the national executive committee (NEC) of the association would be its president, Kebby Maphatsoe, a long-time Zuma supporter who recently said he stood with the former president in his stalemate with the commission.

Independent Media understands that the visit would likely coincide with a show of support from some ANC members from branches in Nkandla. The supporters are expected to be in the area in small numbers to show they stand with Zuma.

Zuma said last week he would not comply with a Constitutional Court ruling ordering him to appear before the commission, led by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, which is probing allegations of state capture during Zuma’s presidency.

The Constitutional Court ruled that Zuma must appear before the commission and answer questions put to him. It also said he did not have a right to remain silent and could only not answer a self-incriminating question if that concern was legitimate.

Zuma said he would defy the ruling and was ready to go to jail for doing so.

MKMVA spokesperson Carl Niehaus said that this year marked 60 years since the formation of the ANC’S armed wing, Umkhonto wesizwe (MK), which was formed on December 16, 1961.

As part of their celebrations, the MKMVA NEC would visit the older generation of comrades of MK and the remaining comrades of the Luthuli Detachment.

He said it was in this context that the MKMVA would pay its first visit to Zuma to honour him as their patron in chief.

"Furthermore, this visit is also the execution of a decision of the last NEC meeting of MKMVA, which resolved that the MKMVA NEC must visit (former) president Zuma and pledge our support to him in the face of the constant attacks he is being subjected to,“he said.

Niehaus said there was no doubt Zuma was being deliberately targeted and treated badly. “(The) MKMVA is deeply disturbed by the recent ruling by the Constitutional Court, which endeavours to force president Zuma to present himself before Mr Justice Zondo, who is evidently prejudiced against him.

"We are furthermore perturbed that a most basic and fundamental constitutional right was taken away from president Zuma by the ruling of the Constitutional Court, namely his right to remain silent and not to incriminate himself,” he said.

“(The) MKMVA will show our support for president Zuma not only through this planned visit of our NEC, but also through a programme of action in support for president Zuma, that we endeavour to undertake. This programme of action we will discuss with president Zuma during our visit."

Meanwhile, the ANC veterans league, led by former SABC news head Dr Snuki Zikalala, without naming Zuma, said it expected all members of the ruling party to subject themselves to questioning at the commission. In a post-nec meeting of the league, it said the ANC had agreed its members must co-operate with the commission without exception.

Commission spokesperson Reverend Mbuyiselo Stemela did not comment when asked to address concerns that Justice Zondo was openly biased against Zuma.

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