The spokesperson for Jacob Zuma, implicated in a report on corruption during his mandate, denounced a report “ filled with gossip, innuendo and conjecture “.
With our correspondent in Johannesburg, Claire Bargeles
In South Africa, Judge Zondo’s commission has just released the latest part of its research this week and clearly indicates that the former president has ” abused his position and allowed a vast system of corruption to take hold.
But the former president Jacob Zuma decided to make his point of view heard at a press conference, which ultimately took place without the principal concerned. His lawyer Dali Mpofu explained his absence: “ It’s because we advised him not to come, because of the rules attached to his parole. We prefer to take all our precautions. For having refused to appear before the commission of inquiry, Jacob Zuma has indeed finished serving a 15-month prison sentence on parole, for medical reasons.
The Zondo commission has carried out more than four years of work and collected some 300 testimonies, but the Zuma Foundation and its spokesperson, Mzwanele Manyi, continue to criticize its legitimacy. ” His Excellency President Zuma has been, and still is, abused by the South African justice system. As for the illegal report written by this illegal commission, it is, as expected, filled with gossip, innuendo, and conjecture. There is a lack of concrete evidence “, denounced the spokesman of the Zuma Foundation, Mzwanele Manyi.
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The arrest of Jacob Zuma last year sparked a wave of deadly riots, killing more than 350 people. And Mzwanele Manyi does not rule out the possibility of such events happening again: Volatility within the country can be controlled with good intelligence services. But if we continue with this level of incompetence, anything is possible. “.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is due to announce his intentions on the commission’s recommendations within four months.
For his part, the former president should again be before the courts in mid-August, on the one hand so that justice examines the legality or not of his placement on parole, but also within the framework of another corruption case, the Thales case.