Former South African president Jacob Zuma on Monday accused the ruling African National Congress’ top brass of conspiring to see him put behind bars and failing to protect him from “baseless accusations” since 1994.
The former president said this in the wake of an ANC resolution requiring all party members with court cases to step aside until they have been cleared of the allegations.
In 23 pages of talking points released on social media, Zuma told a visiting delegation led by under-fire ANC secretary general Ace Magashule that the party has not protected him over the years during his tribulations over various charges directed against him.
“In the recent years, the ANC has never protected me as I faced unjustified attacks that I assisted the Guptas capture the state. You know very well that is not true but you left the narrative to run along,” Zuma told Magashule.
He added: “It is not that you have sympathy for me. You have looked the other way as I was being attacked. Some of my own comrades continue to attack me and my work as [former] president of the Republic of South Africa through the narrative of ‘nine wasted years’.”
The former president said his marginalisation started soon after Nelson Mandela came to power in 1994, and the trend continued up to now after he refused to appear before the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture due to a perceived bias against him.
Among the “baseless accusations” against him, Zuma cited the US$2.1 billion arms deal scandal whose case was still in court as well as the Nkandla saga in which he is accused of allegedly abusing state funds to build “security measures” at his village home.
Other allegations against him include a rape trial in the early 2000s after he slept with an HIV-infected woman, and the ongoing investigations by the office of the public protector that led to the formation of the Inquiry Commission.
“I have never enjoyed a single day of freedom. My woes started soon after the dawn of democracy. Since then, I have been a permanent target and scapegoat of forces internal and external to our movement,” he said.
Citing the “lack of protection” that he endured during his presidency, he said: “My own comrades worked to oust me. They even worked with the opposition to remove an ANC president from parliament – something that was unprecedented.
“To this day, I do not understand what led to this. I asked some of you: what was it that I had done wrong for me to deserve to be pushed out of this position before my term ended in February 2018,” Zuma said.
Zuma, however, conveniently forgot that he set the precedent in December 2007 when he ousted and succeeded former president Thabo Mbeki before the end of his term with the help of his former comrade, then ANC Youth League president Julius Malema.
He concluded: “Basically, this meeting is not about the issues I have raised, which should concern you, but a public show aimed at displaying to forces external to the ANC so that you can rein me in.”
NM/jn/APA