Former president Jacob Zuma has finally launched his long awaited autobiography which has been on the cards since he announced plans to write it during the ANC’s 54th national conference in December 2017, in what has been described as the first of many books he is set to write.
Almost borrowing from Zuma’s famed midnight cabinet reshuffles during his tenure as head of state, the much awaited autobiography titled “Jacob Zuma Speaks” was launched virtually on Friday just two minutes before midnight.
In a video posted on Twitter by the JG Zuma Foundation, Zuma is flanked by his daughter Duduzile Zuma and the foundation’s spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi, with several copies of the book decked on a table before them.
Virtual Book Launch - 10/12/2021
JACOB ZUMA SPEAKS
Details on where and how to get the book are in the next tweet. pic.twitter.com/5C4eunRPUS
In a poster advertising the book, its publishers Xarra Books write: “Much has been said about President Jacob Zuma, most of which casts him in a negative light. This is often deliberate. The effect has been to airbrush out history any positive contribution he has made. Jacob Zuma Speaks attempts to provide the necessary historical balance.”
In the virtual launch video, Zuma said that he felt good that some South Africans who are patriots, had felt that it was not fair to tell the kind of stories that were not true.
“The untruth about the work that we have done really demonstrates that the truth is important in society, for the society to be well informed, to know what has happened, because there is no use to create stories because you have a powerful machinery to do so,” Zuma said.
Manyi said that the launch of the book was “quite timely” as it came after the November 1 local government elections “where people have spoken loud and clear” on how they felt about things happening in the country.
“A lot has been said about His Excellency President Zuma, a lot of falsehoods, a lot of untruths have been told. This book is about setting the record straight, it’s got verbatim accounts of people that today are very quiet, yet they have said a lot of flowery stuff during those nine years.
“This book is really going to reveal a lot. A lot of things have been said and we hope that everyone, before you comment on anything, please read this book and then we’re ready to take comments thereafter,” Manyi said.
POLITICAL BUREAU