If former president Jacob Zuma were to be thrown back in prison, as was the case nearly two years ago, South Africa would have to brace itself for “war”.
This was said by a member of Nkandla local taxi association, Nhlanhla Cebekhulu yesterday when addressing a handful of villagers at Inkandla, where the homestead of the former president is located.
Cebekhulu’s threats follow the Constitutional Court decision on Thursday to reject the department of correctional services’ appeal against a Supreme Court ruling that rejected Zuma’s medical court parole.
The apex court’s ruling could see the former president return to serve the remainder of his 15-month prison term.
But Cebekhulu, in a war cry before the villagers, made it abundantly clear that the arrest of Zuma would precipitate bloodbath “in the streets” because it would be a grave injustice to arrest “an old man” who should be allowed “to rest at home with his grand-children”.
“Zizokhala ngempela ke manje (this time there will be real war). The courts want to see bloodshed in the streets.
“This will not end well because ordinary people on the ground are angry and confronted by poverty, unemployment, and many other things. The arrest of Zuma will fuel more anger,” said Cebekhulu.
Cebekhulu is allegedly one of the key leaders of several taxi associations who threatened anarchy when Zuma faced imminent incarceration in 2021.
Barely two years ago, the KwaNxamalala village, where Zuma’s ancestral home of KwaDakwadunuse is located, was a hive of political activity. The former president’s allies and sympathisers converged in the area, vowing to thwart any attempts to arrest the man they call “the father of radical economic transformation”.
The clock was ticking for Zuma to hand himself over to the Estcourt prison facility to begin his sentence. Zuma was reduced to a convict after he was slapped with a prison sentence by the ConCourt judge Sisi Khampempe.
This followed his refusal to give evidence in the state capture commission chaired by the now chief Justice Raymond Zondo.
The apex ruling upheld a Supreme Court ruling that former prison boss Arthur Fraser’s decision to release Zuma on medical parole was invalid.
“The effect of the setting aside of this declarator is that once the order in this appeal is handed down, Zuma’s position as it was prior to his release on medical parole will be reinstated. In other words, Zuma, in law, has not finished serving his sentence and must return to the Estcourt Correctional Centre to do so.
“Whether the time spent by Zuma on unlawfully granted medical parole should be taken into account in determining the remaining period of his incarceration is not for the court to decide,” read the SCA judgment in part.
Yesterday, as Sunday World visited Nkandla to gauge the mood of locals in the aftermath of the ruling, a different picture emerged. A handful of villagers appeared unperturbed by the news of Zuma’s possible rejailing.
His homestead resembled a quiet and deserted place with no activity, except a few guards manning the main gate.
His neighbours also said that even if Zuma was at home, it would be difficult to tell.
“From the outside, you hardly see him unless you’re lucky to be allowed inside. But I think he was home last week because we saw a convoy of vehicles.
“We usually see the big cars when he is around,” explained Tholakele Mhlungu, who lives a stone’s throw away from Zuma’s residence.
Induna Kwenzakwakhe Mkhwanazi, who led a strong contingent of Amabutho to support Zuma in his brushes with the law, has vowed that if anybody would touch Zuma with the intention to send him to jail, anarchy would engulf the country.
“All we want is peace and stability. We do not want a repeat of what happened in July. But if Zuma is arrested, we will have no choice but to show our anger,” he said.
Meanwhile, Nkosentsha Shezi, a staunch Zuma ally and secretary of the movement African Radical Economic Transformation Alliance, told Sunday World that the court’s judgment was shockingly biased.
“The courts have become the enemies of peace. The judgment itself shows deep hatred for Zuma. South Africa is already sitting on a ticking time bomb with the burning of trucks, and we shudder to think what might happen if Zuma were to be sent to jail,” said Shezi.
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