12 |1 AUGUST^2019 http://www.drum.co.za

H

E BARELYbrokea sweat
ashebobbedandwea­
ved,dodgingblowslike
a world­wearyprize
fighter.
The ring was the
Zondocommissionof
inquiryintoallegations
ofstatecaptureandformerpresident
JacobZuma’sappearancewashighly
anticipated.
Afterall,he’sthemanatthecentreof
nearlya decade’sworthofallegationsof
corruption,themanwhowasapparently
hand­in­glovewiththeinfamousGupta
fami ly.
Butinsteadofanswers,SouthAfrica
gota three­dayshowcaseofduckingand
divingasMsholozimumbledandcleared
histhroatwhilerevealing... nothing.
Hedidn’trememberanything,heknew
almostnothingandhewasconvincedhe
wasbeingpersecuted.
“ThedayofreckoningforZumastill
hasn’tcome,”saysProfessorTheoNeeth­
ling,headoftheUniversityoftheFree
State’sdepartmentofpoliticalstudies
andgovernance.
“Zumaisa masterofplayingand
survivingoutsidetherulesofthegame.
Hedoesn’tgiveclearanswers–and
whenit suitshim,hesimplyclaimshe
doesn’tknoworcan’tremember.”
Zuma’stestimonyhas“beenwell
receivedbymostofhissupporters,who
believethere’sa vendettaagainsthim,”
addsProfessorKealebogaMaphunye,
chair of Unisa’s political sciences
department.
Ontheotherhand,therearethose
whobelieve“he’sbeenanevasiveand
unreliablewitness.
“Myoverallimpressionis he’sreliedon
thevictimapproachtoappealtopublic
sentiment”.

LEFT: Jacob

Zuma appea

before

Raymond

Zondo (RIGH

‘Zumawasdivertingthefocusofthecommission

away from him to other people’

ZU M A’S BIG

LETDOWN

Those hoping for explosive

revelations from the former

president were sorely

disappointed BY RICHARD VAN RENSBURG

ZUMA’S TESTIMONY

THE CONSPIRACY PLOT

ZUMA SAID

He’d been the victim of a plot

by local and international spy

agencies. Conspirators,

including “former apartheid

spies in the ANC”, attempted

to force him out of the ANC by

character assassination.

He named two of his former

ministers as apartheid spies –

Advocate Ngoako Ramatlhodi

and General Siphiwe Nyanda.

Ramatlhodi, former minister

of mineral resources, pre­

viously told the Zondo com­

missionZumahad auctioned off the country to

the Guptas. Nyanda has also been a fierce Zuma

critic.

Theconspirators’plan,Zumaclaimed,included

trumped­upcorruptionchargesrelatingtothe

armsdealandtheSchabirShaikcase;no­

confidence motions against him in parliament;

former public protector Thuli Madonsela’s report

onstatecapture;hisremovalasstatepresident;

andtheZondocommissionitself.

TESTIMONY DEBUNKED

Ramatlhodi and Nyanda denied the accusations.

“It appeared Zuma was diverting the focus of

the commission away from him to other people,”

Professor Kealeboga Maphunye, chair of Unisa’s

political sciences department says. “This was

possibly to buy time or evade giving answers to

questions he faced on whether he sanctioned,

aided or abetted state capture.”

Nyanda was promoted to head of the

defence force and Zuma himself later made

him a minister, Professor Theo Neethling, head

NGOAKO

RAMATLHODI

GENERAL

NYANDA