Lungani Zungu
Scores of cars and supporters were seen making their way to Nkandla ahead of the former president Jacob Zuma’s address to his supporters on Sunday afternoon.
The address comes as he continues to battle with the judiciary in a desperate bid to avoid serving his 15-month jail sentence.
On Friday, Zuma launched a last-minute court application to have the ConCourt’s jail sentence reversed.
The highest court in the country agreed to hear Zuma’s arguments on Monday, 12 July.
His supporters continued to flock to Nkandla, where there has been blatant flouting of the lockdown regulations.
A convoy travelling from eShowe, some 70 kilometres away from Nkandla, was blocked by police around midday on their way to Zuma’s homestead on Sunday.
This led to an altercation between the police and the Zuma supporters.
His supporters threatened violence should Zuma be arrested for refusing to appear at the state capture commission of inquiry.
The ANC in KZN leadership, led by Sihle Zikalala, went to Nkandla in a bid to quell the brewing tensions, but their plea fell on deaf ears.
In a video that surfaced on Saturday, Zuma said he would not go to prison in an address to Izinduna (herdsmen), who had visited him in Nkandla.
The suspended ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule, Zuma’s loyal backer, was among the high-profile figures who had shown support for the embattled Zuma.
Zuma, who had previously lashed out at the judiciary and accused it of bias, now returns, hat in hand, pleading for mercy.
In his court papers, Zuma argued that he shouldn’t be made to serve his sentence as his arrest would serve as a political statement.
He also argued that he needed regular intense therapy because of his age of 79, which he would not be able to receive if he was imprisoned.
If imprisoned, Zuma will become the country’s first president to have fallen from the highest office into a jail cell.
Image source: DZumaSambudla
