Supporters of Jacob Zuma, who met recently in Kliptown, Soweto, believe the warrant for his arrest is intended to humiliate the former president, and have vowed that they are ‘ready for war’, according to a City Press report.
This follows the issuing of an arrest warrant for Zuma by Pietermaritzburg High Court Judge Dhaya Pillay after he failed to appear in court. The pre-trial hearing concerned corruption charges relating to the 1990s arms deal. Zuma’s lawyers presented a sick note signed by a doctor from the VIP medical unit of the SA National Defence Force, Dr Zakes Motene. Zuma’s spokesperson said the former president was in Cuba for ‘medical observation’ and was not expected to return before the end of April.
The City Press report said the minutes of a meeting of a 70-strong a group called Radical Economic Transformation in Kliptown indicated that the group was ‘ready for war’, and quoted one member as saying: ‘Some of us have nothing to lose, and if it means we have to die, that is fine. It cannot be correct that Msholozi fought for the country but is treated like an orphan, like a criminal.’
The group also reportedly expressed its support for Thabo Mbeki and Cyril Ramaphosa, seeing the arrest warrant for Zuma as a threat against the ANC.
[Picture: World Economic Forum Eric Miller, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7019693]