Zuma is our hero — say police
About 25km away from the Kwadakwadunuse, the ancestral home of former president Jacob Zuma lies a small and clustered enkandla police station.
The station is located adjacent to the local town surrounded by the rolling mountains and valleys. This is where the former statesman is expected to spend the last few hours being processed before being transferred to the Westville correctional facility or any nearest prison to begin serving his 15-month jail sentence.
A police officer at the station who did not want to be named for fear of reprisal told Sunday World on Saturday that they were overwhelmed by the Zuma debacle.
“We will just have to deal with the situation when it unfolds. But we as local police regard Zuma as our hero, we are in a very tight corner. This is the general mood among everyone at the police station,” he explained.
A few minutes away, inside Zuma’s compound negotiations were going on between the former president and the ANC Kwazulu-natal top leadership.
Provincial chairperson Sihle Zikalala and secretary Mdumiseni Ntuli had been deployed to make last minute negotiations with Zuma. They spent hours inside the compound before being joined by Zuma’s trusted lieutenant and suspended party secretary-general Ace Magashule. He was prevented from making any media interviews by ex-mk soldiers who used force before whisking him inside the compound.
While negotiations were being held inside, Zuma’s son Edward encouraged ANC supporters not to defy any political solution aimed at ending the impasse.
“We are not prepared to speak to anyone who wants to negotiate with President Zuma. Why were they quiet all this time? The only thing we are prepared for is war. There would be gunfights and blood on the floor from today onwards. Even if he (Zuma) wants to hand himself over to the authorities, we will not allow him to,” he said.
Later in the day Zuma emerged being flanked by amabutho who paraded him for a few minutes before escorting him back to the compound. He did not interact with the crowd as per usual. Police were nowhere to be seen besides a few police vans who kept on speeding past the compound during different intervals.