Former South African president Jacob Zuma on Friday welcomed his one-time youth leader in the ruling African National Congress party to his Nkandla home for a cup of tea described as “as sweet and hot.”
That description came from Economic Freedom Front’s spokesperson Vuyani Pambo in response to a reporter’s query about the two men’s discussions during the meeting.
Pambo insisted there was nothing substantive in the talks between EFF leader Malema and the former president, apart from sharing a cup of tea at his retirement home.
Asked about the mood at the meeting, he replied: “As I said, the tea was very nice, and sweet and hot. The mood of the meeting was a very nice one, it was very cordial. It was a meeting of black people.”
Zuma, who fired Malema as president of the ANC’s Youth League over their policy differences, invited the outspoken opposition leader via Twitter after Malema criticised him for his refusal to appear before the Commission of Inquiry on State Capture.
Malema told Zuma that they should meet. Zuma agreed, and on Friday invited Malema to his homestead in his Nkandla Village in the northern KwaZulu-Natal Province.
It was the building of Nkandla, using millions of dollars of state funds, which triggered state capture charges against Zuma, and this culminated in the current fully blown state inquiry.
The EFF tweeted pictures of the two leaders, shaking hands, not wearing masks or observing social distancing in these days of the coronavirus pandemic.
Apart from Pambo, Malema was also accompanied by party member Dali Mpofu, a reputable advocate in his own right.
Zuma’s allies at the meeting were ANC’s National Executive Committee member Tony Yengeni and Ekurhuleni mayor Mzwandile Masina, the latter said to be the organiser of the meeting’s logistics.
NM/jn/APA