Zuma video sets tongues wagging
Mixed reaction to former president and son’s ‘desperate’ tell-all show
FORMER President Jacob Zuma and his son Duduzane have embarked on a public sympathy drive ahead of his trial after he pulled out of the stay of prosecution bid.
In what appears to be a move to shed light on the behind the scenes goings on during his turbulent presidency, the two have hatched a tell-all plan that has kicked off with the release of a 44 minute video.
Political analysts were, however, of the view that the video – in which Zuma and his son opened up about deaths in the family and alleged poisoning plots – smacked of desperation to be heard by South Africans.
On Tuesday evening Vaultage TV, which was launched on Sunday, released the first part of a tell-all conversation between the former president and Duduzane on a show called Zooming with the
Zumas.
The younger Zuma, who spoke about his mother’s death publicly for the first time, said on the day of the suicide he was frantically called into Kate Zuma’s room, where she was unresponsive and frothing at the mouth.
Duduzane said he read his mother’s suicide note, some of which was leaked to the media, before the then-director-general in the Presidency, Reverend Frank Chikane, walked into the room after the ambulance had arrived.
“I remember he grabbed the note – we almost had a little arm wrestle match for the note. That was the last time I saw that note,” he said.
The duo spoke about “one of the biggest blows” for the former president when his 25-year-old son, Nhlakanipho Vusi Zuma, died in July 2018. At the time, it was said that Nhlakanipho had died from complications related to lupus, a long-term autoimmune disease.
The former president made allegations that his enemies targeted his sons to get to him and that Nhlakanipho’s treatment was tampered with, resulting in his death.
“I lost for the first time my child who had many years to live, but it was in my place that they could not get to me.
“Now that I know what took him, it’s what pains me even more. I now know that it was people who were trying to kill me or to reach me, but who were finding it difficult and who then took a decision to create something that would pain me. It was a failure to take your life (Duduzane) that they went to the young men,” Zuma said.
Political analyst Xolani Dube told The Star yesterday that the former president and his son were trying to “play the victim card” and to appeal to people’s emotions.
“Jacob Zuma is the godfather of South African politics. He knows how to pull the strings of emotions, sympathy and so forth and in this video they are doing it brilliantly,” he said.
Another political analyst, Ralph Mathekga, said the video cried of desperation to be heard by South Africans and it seemed that the duo wanted to stay relevant in the national discourse.
Zuma and Duduzane also discussed the former president’s alleged poisoning in 2014 and his treatment in Moscow,
Russia. Duduzane said his father was so sick that his doctors warned him that he should not attend his inauguration in early 2014.
“The reason I had to be killed is part of the work that I had done in the Struggle and the work that I was given by the ANC. It was my political beliefs,” he said.
Duduzane also said he was called by people close to Deputy President David Mabuza, who pleaded with him to assist the former Mpumalanga premier to get medical treatment for an alleged poisoning attempt in Moscow in 2015.
“People need to understand that it was really touch and go, just like it was touch and go for you (Zuma). It was really touch and go for the now deputy president. He was obviously thankful to myself and yourself,” he told former president Zuma in the video.
When it was time for Mabuza to return home, Duduzane said he went with Tony Gupta to fetch him in Russia.
Duduzane said the ending of the relationship was on Mabuza’s side and he was surprised that he had stopped speaking to him.
Mabuza’s spokesperson, Matshepo Seedat, said there was no comment from the office of the deputy president.
Dube added that Duduzane’s story proved the decay of the ruling party.
“It is showing us the rot that is in the ANC: that the son of the president can bypass so many laws that restrict people in terms of flying outside the country… Duduzane is showing us that in this animal farm there are some animals that are more equal than the others,” he said.
Mathekga said he didn’t know what the Zuma family could gain by saying Mabuza was his ally.
“What is it that one gains by linking these two stories together at this point in time? Is Zuma trying to show the ANC that Mabuza just betrayed him or is he giving the story that he is actually a great guy?” he asked.
Both analysts said the video left unanswered questions about who allegedly poisoned Zuma and Mabuza.
Some social media users welcomed it as a vehicle for the former president to tell his side of the story.
Jacob Zuma is the godfather of… politics. He knows… the strings
Xolani Dube
POLITICAL ANALYST