Nkandla - Former president Jacob Zuma told a group of traditional headmen on Saturday, that he does not know what crime he committed to be sent to jail by the Constitutional Court.
Speaking in Zulu while carrying a traditional Zulu shield, spear and knobkerrie, and wearing his famous "Nkandla tea" shirt, he thanked the headman for their support saying their commanders brought order.
“Angazi ukuthi ngoneni, angizwanga nje bengixoxela (I don't know what wrong I have done, they never told me)," Zuma told the regiments while breaking his silence for the first time since Tuesday.
The address took place at his home in Nkandla, where on Saturday, it was a hive of activity with Zulu warriors coming to support him and prevent his arrest for contempt of court.
Zuma said the ConCourt judges only reacted to his political statements, thus playing politics instead of administering the law.
“My lawyers have launched a court case, and I don’t know how that will end. Where things will get difficult (for me) would be when they said I have to go to jail to serve a sentence when I have done nothing wrong, and me also blindly walking into jail,” Zuma said.
“To me, this shows me that the administers of the law, perhaps even the leaders of the country, do not know what it is to run a country and the law. You don’t abuse these powers when they have been given to you, because that can cause huge damage that could have been avoided in the country.”
He reminded the headmen that even when there was a push to force him to form the state capture commission, he warned people that they would burn their fingers.
“I warned that one day, they will cry because they were doing something that is not done. Every country has its own secrets and things that are not publicly spoken about,” said Zuma.
“You also can’t anger people, even when they tell you that they don’t like it, but you do it because you are in charge of the administering of the law,” he said, adding that those in power should know that they are governing people with feelings.
Meanwhile, Zulu monarch spokesperson, Prince Thulani Zulu, has swiftly distanced the royal house and King Misuzulu from the presence of people purporting to be Zulu regiments currently in Nkandla in support of Zuma.
Zulu said not every man in Zulu traditional gear and carrying traditional weapons is called iButho or Amabutho. He stressed that those in Nkandla are there on their own accord, and King Misuzulu does not involve himself in politics – as such, he could have not sent them.
“Let me clear this for the media and the public at large, not every group of people gathering and carrying traditional weapons called iButho (regiment). Zulu regiments are special people who are commanded by the King. So the people who are there are not regiments as they are not commanded by the King (Misuzulu),” Zulu said late on Saturday.
“They are there on their own because they are aggrieved about something, and that's fine. The King is above political issues and everyone. Hence, he does not vote as he does not get involved in party matters.”
Political Bureau