Political Analyst Xolani Dube says former President Jacob Zuma remains the heart of the African National Congress (ANC), despite the court battle that he is facing.
Zuma appeared before the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Monday.
Zuma and French company Thales, face fraud, corruption, racketeering, and money laundering charges in connection with the 1999 multi-billion rand arms deal.
Dube says Zuma still has a lot of influence in the ANC.
“Even post his term, he still remains the magnet. I can say to a certain extent he is still the heart of the ANC. It was not by mistake that everything that happens around the fall of the ANC, JZ (Jacob Zuma) was supposed to be at the centre,”says Dube.
He says the ANC has made Jacob Zuma “its soul”.
“If this soul by the name of Jacob Zuma in the ANC betrays his own organisation, that will be the end of the ANC,” Dube says.
Some ANC leaders including the suspended Secretary-General, Ace Magashule, and the suspended former North West Premier, Supra Mahumapelo, attended the court proceedings.
Zuma’s supporters also arrived at the High Court singing struggle songs.
Video: Former President Jacob Zuma appears in court
According to Dube, the former President is a well-vested leader and has a huge decision to make as to whether to expose further corruption within the party or not.
“I do not think that he is a dying horse, these are not his last kicks. Jacob Zuma understands very well the power metrics in our country and, remember, this is the person who has been an integral part of all the negotiations in the country, meaning that he knows all the secrets, in relation to the power structure – the power design in our country. So, we can’t simply say he is a dying horse,” says Dube.
Video: Political Analyst Xolani Dube says former president Jacob Zuma has to decide whether or not to betray the ANC
Dube foresees a serious power transition after the trial.
“I think that the ANC is a blind organisation, it is an organisation that is lacking foresight. In our country we had colonisation, we had apartheid and we had what we call, in 1994, an evil edit transition. These stages earmarked the power transition in our country. And again if you look at this case, in 2005, it tried to tilt the power transition in our country, but to a certain extent it became a failed project and now it is back. I can assure you that post this case there will be a serious power transition in our country, and that power transition will be at the expense of the ANC,” says Dube.
The trial has been adjourned to 26 May 2021.
Discussion: Jacob Zuma Corruption trial
