Jacob Zuma on ‘9 wasted years’: That is ‘propaganda, dishonesty’
He said he was preparing to “demonstrate that he has never benefited from any arms deal corruption or tried to evade the trial”.
Responding to questions around his impending court cases, Zuma said he believed that some judges have pronounced him guilty even before the case is heard.
“I have a feeling, which I think is correct, that there are certain courts that when my matter appears, their attitude is almost the same as what I went through as a freedom fighter during apartheid, and now as a free man during democratic time.
“It’s almost a given that, if you went to certain courts, Jacob Zuma cannot win a case. Some people in the judiciary have pronounced that Zuma will never win a case in my court,” the former statesman said.
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He added it was sad that, in the country he fought for, he must feel like a criminal.
“People who hate you, who have agendas against you, I have found that the law, the judiciary, the system, some people are using it. In essence, much as I am happy and free, but I am pursued almost like a criminal and I’m not. All the money that has been spent to find something wrong that I have done, nobody has shown me what it is that I have done,” he said.
In March 2016, the ConCourt ruled that Zuma failed to uphold the Constitution when he did not comply with then Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s remedial action regarding payment for the upgrades to his Nkandla homestead.After the judgment, Zuma apologised for the Nkandla matter in a televised address to the nation. The ConCourt gave National Treasury 60 days to determine the reasonable costs of the non-security upgrades.It said Zuma had to pay within 45 days of the court approving the Treasury’s report.
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The costs included R2.3 million for the so-called fire pool, R1 million for the amphitheatre, and R1.2 million for the cattle kraal.
I did not steal money
Zuma said that, by branding him corrupt, the media was acting the same as it did during apartheid.
The three government investigations, including a “hostile” Public Protector Madonsela, found no link of theft for the upgrades to his Nkandla homestead, Zuma said.
“Even that one (Madonsela) found that I did nothing to steal money, which surprised everybody, but my name has been dragged through international forums, [as]the most corrupt man.”
He denies any participation in the arms deal, adding that those who did were comfortable.
“I have been singled out as the most corrupt and I’ve said, where is the evidence?”
