(Photo: Getty Images / Neville Hopwoo)
Faizel Patel – 05/07/2021
Political analyst Professor Amanda Gouws says the only power former President Jacob Zuma has is to instigate his supporters.
Gouws was speaking to Radio Islam about how Zuma declared that he was prepared to go to jail in his refusal to appear before the State Capture Commission and Justice Raymond Zondo and now he is fighting to the bitter end to prevent just such an event.
Hundreds of his supporters gathered at Nkandla at the weekend, where they milled around without masks or keeping safe social distancing, preparing to prevent any attempt to take Zuma to prison.
Zuma was found in contempt of court on Tuesday and handed a 15 month jail term by the Constitutional Court for violating a court order.
Gouws says Zuma has been forced to play by the rules.
“He has been ignoring the courts, he has been, he’s been writing very egregious letters to the court insulting all the judges and now all of a sudden he’s playing ‘ride it all’. So he’s starting to see the seriousness of the matter. The only power he’s got left is to really instigate his followers to fight on his behalf.”
Gouws says President Cyril Ramaphosa has remained largely silent on the Zuma matter because he is waiting for the courts to act against the former president.
“He’s being strategic about this because he does not want this to escalate and he’s waiting for the court to do its work. I think the big problem here is going to be what is going to happen if the police and specifically Bheki Cele the commissioner of police have go and arrest Zuma at Nkandla. That can really escalate into violence.”
Professor Gouws says Zuma is painting himself as the victim ash he had always done, adding that his support base has dwindled , exacerbated the by the current lockdown regulations.
Listen to the interview with Professor Amanda Gouws
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