UMKHONTO weSizwe Party (MKP) president Jacob Zuma is a man of peace, said party activist Bonginkosi Khanyile.
Khanyile was addressing MKP supporters who gathered at Freedom Square in front of the Pietermaritzburg High Court. Zuma, the former state president, appeared along with his co-accused, French arms company Thales, for their arms deal corruption charges on Thursday.
“There is no one who is more peaceful than president Zuma because if he was not peaceful when we won the elections (in KwaZulu-Natal) and they stole the votes, he was going to say we must fight against them.
“I was waiting for his command and if he had said fight, I was going to fight but he said let us be patient and stick to the rules of the country and Constitution,” said Khanyile.
In court, prosecutor Billy Downer asked Judge Nkosinathi Chili to postpone the matter for a pre-trial in April next year.
Zuma is waiting for Judge Chili to grant him leave to appeal against the dismissal of an application to have Downer removed as the prosecutor in the matter.
However, Zuma, who intended to continue pushing for Downer to step down from prosecuting him, asked Judge Chili to provide reasons why he ruled against the application to get Downer off the case.
After a lengthy, heated debate between Zuma’s legal representative, advocate Dali Mpofu SC and Downer, Judge Chili postponed the matter to September 11 when he would furnish Zuma with the reasons. Zuma wants to use the reasons to approach the Supreme Court of Appeal to appeal against the decision to keep Downer on the case.
In 2019 Khanyile was convicted and sentenced to three years’ house arrest for perpetuating public violence concerning the 2016 #FeesMustFall campaign. Last month he was charged with contravening the Riotous Assemblies Act and conspiracy to commit public violence for uttering a statement that allegedly threatened to violently disrupt the May elections.
A former MKP youth leader, Khanyile said despite his tolerance, Zuma was the “most abused former president of the country”.
He called on MKP supporters to be firm in supporting Zuma as they did when he was incarcerated in 2021 for defying a Constitutional Court order that he appear before the state capture commission.
“When Zuma was arrested by Cyril (Ramaphosa) in 2021 we stood firm, calling for his release from prison.
“Even today, ubaba is 82 years old but he still attends court cases,” said Khanyile.
MKP head of presidency Magasela Mzobe said it was a travesty of justice that Zuma had been facing the arms deal charges for almost two decades.
“When it started we were still students and were coming here in Pietermaritzburg to give him support and we will continue to do that,” Mzobe said.
Mzobe said the case was a “political witch-hunt”.
“We believe that case must be stopped and this harassment must be stopped.
“Justice delayed is justice denied and in our view the matter must just be closed as we cannot have one man harassed by the same case over 20 years,” said Mzobe.