Duduzane Zuma, the son of former president Jacob Zuma, has come out in defence of ANC member Zandile Gumede, former mayor of  eThekwini (the metro which incorporates the city of Durban). The KwaZulu-Natal legislature’s appointment of Gumede as a member last week came as a shock, mainly because Gumede is facing corruption charges for tender fraud amounting to R208 million. The 59-year-old has been accused of awarding a waste collection contract to companies that she owned during her tenure as mayor from 2016 to 2019. Gumede appeared in the  Durban Commercial Crimes Court last September where she attributed the charges to the oppression of women in the ANC. It appears her claims were taken seriously by the ANC as she was appointed to the legislature in an effort to boost women empowerment, the ruling party said in a statement. – Bernice Maune.
By Bernice Maune
Former president Jacob Zuma’s son, businessman Duduzane Zuma has backed Gumede after she was sworn in as an ANC MPL.
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In a video which has since gone viral on Twitter with over 600 people tweeting about it, Zuma congratulates Gumede on her new post and tells her to keep pushing the envelope.
“Mam Zandile Gumede congratulations on being appointed to the provincial legislature. It’s high time. Innocent until proven guilty, that’s the basis that the court of law work on and that’s the basis we should respect,” he can be heard saying in the video.
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According to Eyewitness News, Gumede has been adamant that she is not guilty of any crime, saying she was being made an example of and that the case was a political witch-hunt scheme.
“Even though the African National Congress says we are equal to men and must be given opportunities, there are still people in South Africa who refuse to accept that and who insist on oppressing women,” she added.
Gumede has proven to be popular among the Durban ANC branches with reports abounding that she could return as the regional chairperson despite fraud charges against her.
Zuma’s video meanwhile drew criticism on Twitter as people reacted to his comments.
Innocent until proven guilty because it suits your narrative ! What about the oath you take to uphold the highest levels of integrity, to not bring your party and positions you hold into disrepute, to hold the public into your confidence? Those all matter!
— RidiculousRiggs (@Riggas007) August 22, 2020
Zuma, whose affiliation to the Gupta family is said to have netted him contracts worth millions as he was a partner on some of their business deals including owning shares in now-defunct TV channel ANN7, is currently based in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, TimesLIVE has reported.
Zuma is said to have facilitated meetings between senior executives within state-owned enterprises and the Guptas. In 2019, he testified at the commission for state capture that he had indeed set up a meeting between former minister of finance Mcebisi Jonas and the Gupta brothers at their Saxonwold home. During that meeting, Jonas said he was offered R600m to become the Guptas inside man within the finance ministry.
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The 36-year-old has continued to visit SA periodically and more recently released a series of conversations with his father on YouTube. Zooming with the Zumas covers personal issues that affected the family such as the suicide of Kate Zuma. In other segments in the series, Jacob Zuma claims that his son Vusi Zuma was murdered by people who were targeting him instead.
Duduzane Zuma played an instrumental role in getting public relations firm Bell Pottinger to build the fake White Monopoly Capital narrative to sow political discontent when his father was president. Bell Pottinger subsequently collapsed as a result of the outrage over its activities to destroy social cohesion.
The challenge is that whilst the NPA takes its time these statements can be repeated often enough for many people to believe them.
— Doug Walker (@Doug_A_Walker) August 22, 2020
