By Gugulethu Hughes
Editor’s note: The opinions expressed here are those of the authors. View more opinion on ScoonTV.
There are all kinds of hirelings masquerading as think tanks and journalists who continue to earn recognition for vilifying Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma. This transfusion of hired rifles owes its existence to the system of White Monopoly Capital and is indebted to the black gatekeepers of imperialism.
In all fairness, President Zuma deserves royalties for every little piece penned by his critics – many have been put on the map for encouraging his persecution. These critics get their marching orders from different players in all spheres of government, the corporate world, and the western imperialists in the EU and USA.
Perhaps, the biggest ophidians in this complex-yet-so-vivid puzzle are the comrades Jacob Zuma served with in the ANC. His experiences deserve a biblical update – the book of Jacob Zuma, a breakdown of his real crime is necessary.
Multiple books by questionable characters have been published to spread lies about Jacob Zuma, as well as articles, interviews, and billion-rand commissions. In times like this, a narration of his experiences requires one to throw off the scent of an apologetic attitude.
Zuma was born on April 12, 1942, in the countryside of Nkandla, a village in the province now called KwaZulu Natal. He went from a cattle herd-boy not attending colonial centres of indoctrination, to teaching himself how to read and write, and eventually becoming State President in 2008.
But his evolution has always been mired in revolution and in many ways sired the black consciousness of many people.
Prior to becoming State President, he occupied other political offices in the provincial government such as MEC for Economic Affairs and Tourism in KwaZulu Natal, ANC National Chairperson, ANC Deputy President etc.
During the war of political liberation, he represented the ANC in different capacities. In 1963, while enroute to Zambia for military training, he was arrested and detained for three months before being eventually sentenced to ten years imprisonment at Robben Island – at the age of 21.
Upon his release in 1973, he went into exile in Mozambique, Zambia, and Swaziland where he coordinated the underground operations of ANC’s military wing Umkhonto weSizwe.
In 1978, he received military and intelligence training in the Soviet Union and became the engine room for ANC’s military logistics and operations. Operating in exile was the best strategy for a banned ANC. It allowed him to confront the apartheid machinery by forming ties with other countries that had already achieved political independence from colonial powers.
This co-operation saw many Umkhonto weSizwe combatants receive military training while engaging in gun fire exchanges with the apartheid army. There have been many such battles recorded in history like the battles of Sipolilo in Wankie, Zimbabwe where ZIPRA forces joined Umkhonto weSizwe in direct military confrontation with Apartheid and Rhodesian forces.
The collapse of Portuguese political rule in 1974 saw Angola and Mozambique become independent states, much to the dismay of the CIA, and apartheid South Africa. But Umkhonto weSizwe, Cuban forces, Soviet Union forces, SWAPO, and MPLA forces won the war for the people of Angola in the 1988 Battle of Cuito Cuanavale.
This was a master display of military cooperation against agents of imperialism. It was in this area of military cooperation, negotiations, and defence execution that Jacob Zuma thrived. This is even reflected more in his term as President of the Republic of South Africa.
The highlighting of titbits of military history above is meant to decolonize the mind of the clever blacks that consumed an oversupply of colonial supplements and would be quick to call Zuma a coward for going into exile. The liberation of South Africa is intertwined to the liberation of all other countries that shared similar ideologies of socialism and anti-imperialism.
It’s important to note while President Jacob Zuma was engaged in underground military operations, his predecessors and successor in the Presidency were engaged in Anglo Saxon training.
This is exactly what sets Zuma apart. At no point in history was he under the tutelage of colonisers. His conscious convictions on liberation of black people remained untampered with.
Throughout his political tenure, the system consistently treats him with suspicion for the simple reason that he did not emerge from the ranks of White Monopoly Capital – he has never been a FIRST BLACK.
The system has made attempts to corrupt his conscience, but he remained steadfast in the face of humongous imperialism. This is what has gotten him into trouble – for refusing to lose his soul and become a stooge.
While Jacob Zuma has always been an enemy of the imperialists, his troubles post-1994 began when he became Deputy President to Anglo Saxon-tinned Thabo Mbeki from 1999-2005.
His elevation to this position after being elected Deputy President of the ANC presented a quagmire for the imperialist system. The challenge was that within the context of succession planning, an “outcast” was now well positioned to eventually become President.
While other radical ANC members like Chris Hani had been assassinated to prevent them from entering the Presidency, the threat Zuma posed to the system was undermined as he was seen as a man that lacked education. This miscalculation prevented the system from realizing that wisdom trumps education – although attempts on his life were made before. On the other hand, Zuma has always been aware of how he’d been a perfect candidate for elimination.
In 1991, he was elected ANC Deputy Secretary General. After the 1994 elections, he requested to be deployed to the KZN Provincial Government where he worked as MEC for Economic Affairs and Tourism. He used his conflict resolution skills to end the war between the ANC and the de Klerk-influenced IFP.
Above all, his move to KZN was a sign of a man who understood leadership, grassroots, constituency, and the importance of climbing the ladder from the bottom up.
The ANC was new to governance, and he chose to learn the ropes at the lower structures of governance. The national government presented the ANC with opportunities for courting by the banking and mining cartels. To this day, ANC’s top 6 members are all mired in deals with White Monopoly Capital businesses, a perfect catalyst for selling out the revolution.
The other former South African Presidents, Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki, and Kgalema Motlanthe, all enjoyed close relationships with imperialist forces. The current President, Cyril Ramaphosa, is dripping with Zelensky syndrome. He’s served White Monopoly Capital throughout his political life – so much that other sell-outs are shocked by his ability to sell out.
President Zuma is the only ANC leader that occupied strategic political positions within the party but never engaged in deals and acts of self-aggrandisement with the monolithic cartels running the pyramid scheme called South Africa. If any, he has done his utmost to destroy the pyramid.
In 2005, the steam locomotive meant to thwart Zuma from ascending to ANC President started rolling. A woman named Khwezi accused Zuma of rape in a highly politicized trial. The corporate media played its role of mocking Zuma directly and through insults disguised as satire.
The prosecutors did not miss the opportunity to condescend. They asked Zuma how and why he did not contract HIV from Fezeka Khuzwayo. Like all normal people his response was he took a shower after the sexual encounter. The narrative that ensued in the media was that Zuma was an insensitive man for the response he made – and earned himself the name “Shower Head” from critics. The shower, of course, was not the real issue. The problem was that Zuma took the shower. Therefore, he had to be humiliated.
In 2006, he was acquitted of all charges as the State failed to present a strong case for rape. Additionally, Fezeka had a history of falsely accusing men of rape. After Zuma’s acquittal, Fezeka left South Africa for the Netherlands. President Zuma’s acquittal did not stop his critics from calling him a rapist. The most prominent critic in recent years being the uninspiring Ramaphosa who said he believes Khwezi was raped.
Also in 2005, Zuma’s former financial advisor Schabir Shaik was found guilty of corruption and fraud relating to the 1999 Arms Deal with French company Thales – a deal which Zuma was not part of. Thabo Mbeki, Nelson Mandela, Directors of White Monopoly Capital companies in South Africa, UK, and Europe were the ones responsible for the deal.
Schabir Shaik was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2006 but was released on medical parole in 2009. After seeing the attacks on Zuma when he served as Deputy President, it’s not hard to believe the Schabir case was really about targeting Zuma. All technically possible instances to link Zuma to malfeasance were employed and enacted which led to Thabo Mbeki relieving him of his duties in 2005.
Eventually, he was charged for corruption, fraud, and racketeering. There was a total of 783 charges of corruption. Agents of the system, like Trevor Noah and the media, publicised this. Unsurprisingly, Noah later ended up in Hollywood.
Charges included a US$ 0.68 car wash and vacuum fee as per KPMG audit. The charges have since been reduced to 16 counts of corruption, fraud, and money laundering. This is how the propaganda machinery conducts itself – make Zuma look like the most corrupt man in the entire history of money.
In 2006, the case collapsed after the State wasn’t ready to proceed with prosecution. The charges were subsequently dropped in 2009 shortly before he became President after winning the ANC Conference in Polokwane (2008), defeating Thabo Mbeki who was seeking a 3rd term.
Thabo Mbeki’s war on Zuma was not his but that of his handlers. A Directorate of Special Operations called the Scorpions was created to focus on political opponents like Zuma. In dropping the charges in 2009, then National Director of Prosecutions Mokotedi Mpshe cited records of spy tapes between the head of Scorpions Leonard McCarthy and his predecessor at the NPA, Bulelani Ngcuka. Ngcuka also happened to be husband to Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka, the woman who was appointed Deputy President after Mbeki relieved Zuma of his duties.
Part of the cited phone conversation transcript between McCarthy and Ngcuka captures Ngcuka thanking McCarthy for confirming that charges on Zuma were going to be reinstated. There are many high-profile people in the spy tapes that conspired to prevent “Zulu boy,” in reference to Zuma, from ascending to the Presidency.
While Thabo Mbeki has always been power-hungry nonthinker, the war he was meting out on Zuma was never a product of his suspicious intellect but that of his handlers. As a result of his political grooming, he still harbours anger towards Zuma for his defeat at the Polokwane Conference.
But the forces of darkness did not give up their fight against Zuma. While the rape case could not be resurrected, the Arms Deal case has become the elephant they want Zuma to carry to his death.
In 2016, the racist Democratic Alliance, a rebrand of the National Party responsible for apartheid in South Africa, took to the Supreme Court of Appeal to have charges against Zuma reinstated. As per engineering, Zuma lost the appeal. The case is ongoing. The reinstatement came at a time when Zuma faced attacks from all angles. There were sponsored calls for him to resign even from so-called communists like the South Africa Communists Party.
Zuma’s first term as President was a cooling-off period for those baying for his blood. In the ANC Mangaung Conference in 2012, they connived with prominent puppets and unsuspecting halfwits to have colonial superstar Cyril Ramaphosa become Deputy President. A life after Zuma was already being implemented as part of succession planning.
Such is the complexity of the ANC, infiltrated to the core and boasting of members that can be easily swayed by imperialists. It was during Zuma’s second term that the Gupta strawman was raised to distract people from the achievements of his administration. The propaganda became viral globally.
To this day, President Zuma is seen as the man who brought the Indian Gupta family over so they can steal from South Africa.
The truth is that the Guptas were businesspeople. Like other businessmen, they’d done business with the state via opportunities presented through Public Procurement. They were close to both Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki, did business during the tenure of those administrations, and even donated and did business with the Democratic Alliance.
They ran an IT business called Sahara Computers, started a media company called Oakbay Investments with a TV station named Africa News Network 7, and another company with interests in coal mining called Optimum. The media company threatened the white system’s stranglehold on narrative control, and eventually was pulled off Multichoice DSTV bouquet with no feasible explanation – just like they’ve done with Russia Today.
Optimum Mine’s crime was to charge less for coal supplies to state-owned energy generator Eskom at a time when Australian multinational Glencore wanted to charge more. Glencore even held back supplies, leading to loadshedding. That was then blamed on Zuma and the Guptas.
This goes without saying that Glencore enjoyed coal supply monopoly and was/is under the glory of 40-year evergreen supply contracts. As is the case worldwide, erratic energy supplies are a perfect catalyst for regime change. The calls for Zuma to resign, driven by the propaganda machinery, ensued.
The capable executive team at Eskom, led by Brian Molefe, fought hard and put loadshedding to rest. In retaliation, the system pushed for Brian Molefe to be forced to resign and the conflicted parliament did the political bidding for that.
Matshela Koko was to later become Eskom CEO. Koko was a qualified engineer and protégé of Eskom’s “school of excellence,” but he too was pushed out for keeping the lights on. All these men that kept the lights on meant that calls for Zuma to resign were not going to be justified anymore.
Rating agencies like Moody’s were brought into the fray to downgrade SA, and the rand currency collapsed with every sneeze from the rating agencies. Whenever President Zuma used his prerogative right to reshuffle his cabinet, the Rand would weep.
Eventually, foreign-sponsored NGOs and political parties under the banner of Save South Africa received a healthy budget to run a “Zuma Must Fall” campaign. The campaign led to nationwide marches in urban centres after he had axed colonial midgets Pravin Gordhan and Mcebisi Jonas from his cabinet.
At the time, they’d been serving as principals of the Treasury and were on a European road-trip to acquire more support and resources to force Zuma to resign. So spectacular was the marches that even some old white fossils residing in London lined up for a Spice Girls-like performance singing a Zuma Must Fall song.
More so, captured ANC members started coming out to attack Zuma in public. Also, opposition parties like the EFF, led by Julius Malema, became Zuma’s biggest hecklers in parliament and outside.
Much will be made of the stunning unity displayed by political parties and organisations that didn’t share the same values on paper when it came to the calls for Zuma to fall. It was a symphony of all-round agreeableness demanding that Zuma resign despite how he tried to help black South Africans.
The courts also became an integral part of the anti-Zuma narrative. President Zuma was prevented from appointing commissions. However, a Commission of Inquiry into State Capture was created to deal with Zuma, the Guptas, SOE Executives, and Cabinet members that tried to run public enterprises efficiently and ensure beneficiation for the masses.
At some stage, Zuma’s home became a subject of calls for his resignation, too. These anti-Zuma groups were angry that his home received security upgrades. However, it wasn’t uncommon for security upgrades to be implemented on former state Presidents’ residencies.
Regardless, the upgrades on Zuma’s home were used to allege that he was stealing taxpayers’ money to build his home. The Criminal Justice System is so brazen in its anti-Zuma ideology that the State is no longer allowed to pay for his legal costs, a right he ought to enjoy as former Head of State.
Meanwhile, the courts have embarked on dismissing almost all cases that Zuma takes to the courts with costs. The goal is to cripple him financially and bankrupt his mere existence.
It must be made clear that at the time of his resignation to prevent a civil war, President Zuma still commanded the support of the majority as he still does today. His ability to survive attacks from the system throughout his political life should be commended.
He’s survived gun fire, torture, imprisonment, nine motions of no-confidence in parliament (some of them secret ballot), and even poisoning. The Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, whose sole mandate was to find dirt on him, could not directly link him to any malfeasance.
In 2021, however, Zuma was incarcerated for a civil case of not attending one session of the Commission seating after he had called for the Chairperson to recuse himself because of his bias.
To this day, the case has not been heard, but the Chairperson ran to the Constitutional Court to make a case for Zuma’s imprisonment. They didn’t even be give Zuma the option of a fine as was the case of former apartheid President Louis Botha. Botha was fined approximately US$ 685,00 in 1998 for blatantly refusing to answer to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission chaired by Desmond Tutu years earlier.
Contrary to flighted propaganda, President Zuma had already attended the Zondo Commission twice prior to his imprisonment. An unprecedented law to deal with Zuma was created as read by then-Action Chief Justice Khampephe.
In previous years, Khampephe chaired a Commission created by Mbeki to make a case for the formation of Scorpions Unit. The outcome was favourable to Mbeki.
Per usual, NGOs serving the interests of White Monopoly Capital supported Zuma’s imprisonment.
As Zuma continues to serve his sentence, the Chairperson of the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture has been rewarded with the position of Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court. In April, some of Zuma’s critics will be releasing a book on Zuma. It aims to trash the Nuclear Deal that President Zuma had sought to push with BRICS partner Russia.
The system used captured environmental activists to prevent the implementation of the deal. But the deal would’ve seen South Africa enjoy security of sovereignty by having a source of energy that is imperialist threat-proof. The so-called constitutional democracy via the courts ensured that the deal won’t go through – the limping donkey that is Parliament could not do anything.
While the contents of the book will be challenged by all right-thinking people, it must be known to the world that President Zuma led South Africa into the economic bloc that is BRICS. This was much to the dismay of Brettenwood Institutions and the British. They saw their claim over the Cape of Good Hope trade route as a contingency plan to the Suez Canal route in Egypt being threatened.
A deeper dive into the Zuma administration’s many achievements will be the subject of a future essay. President JG Zuma himself provides a better summation of his life through one of his favourite isiZulu songs. It goes, “Sengimanxebanxeba ‘insizwa engakhula nazo.”
This translates to “All my scars have been caused by the people(comrades) that I have been in the trenches with.”
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