Three days before Jacob Zuma is expected to hand himself over to authorities to start serving his 15-month jail sentence, his supporters cordoned off his Nkandla home and threatened war if force was used to effect the arrest.
Some among a crowd who visited the former president’s homestead yesterday fired gunshots as they set up a blockade.
Independent Media heard multiple gunshots, but journalists were ordered not to take videos or pictures by MKMVA members in army regalia.
However, an Isolezwe reporter captured one of the incidents and posted the video on social media.
At the front of the convoy was a Zulu regiment battalion carrying sticks, knobkerries and other traditional weapons.
They sang Wathintu Zuma, udakwe yini – which loosely translates to “Why touch Zuma (Jacob), what has intoxicated you?”
Speaker after speaker, from MKMVA to leaders of the convoy and the church, vowed that Zuma would never be arrested.
Lindani Sicwala, the leader of the convoy, said: “We will be here (in Nkandla) until that day (of arrest) comes, if they want to get inside they will have to use a helicopter to fly past us because they won’t use this entrance while we are here.”
Dumisani Cele who called himself a commander of the MKMVA said: “As KwaZulu-Natal MK, we are saying if Nxamalala is arrested, we will die here…”'
ROAD BLOCKED: Zuma’s supporters at Nkandla. Video: ANA
Like the Jacob Zuma Foundation, they slammed the Constitutional Court for the conviction, saying instead of applying the law, “they made political statements”.
Zuma’s whereabouts remain unknown, and it’s understood that he was still consulting with his legal team on the way forward.
The 79-year-old was found guilty of contempt of court after he ignored a court order and refused to appear before the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into state capture.
IOL News