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Former President Jacob Zuma before the Zondo Commission in 2019 (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)
- Former President Jacob Zuma has described reported attempts to investigate his children’s bank accounts as “cowardice”.
- Zuma was referring to a Sunday Times report that said the Zondo commission had cited at least 20 accounts linked to the Zuma family.
- The former president said that he “drew the line” with his children and that he would defend with everything he had.
Former President Jacob Zuma has been fired upon, claiming that he “drew the line” with anyone who targeted his children in investigations against him and that harassing them was a “declaration of war” in which he would defend with all his might.
In a statement released Friday, Zuma said it noted with concern a Sunday Times report alleging that the Zondo commission had directed its attention to its children’s bank accounts.
Reported had seen subpoenas related to at least 20 accounts linked to the Zuma family, including a television production company that produces a soap opera SABC1, Birth, which belongs to one of Zuma’s daughters, Gugulethu Zuma-Ncube.
READ | State Capture Inquiry: ‘I’m giving you a chance to come here and clear your name,’ says Zondo
He said that while he accepted that the commission was “desperate” to hold him accountable for his role in the capture of the state, he condemned attempts to attack his children through “clandestine investigations” in matters they had nothing to do with.
“In fact, the terms of reference make it clear that I, and not my children, am the focus of the commission’s investigation.
“My children live their lives separately and should be treated like any child or person who has not been involved in any crime. So far, they have not been given any notification indicating that they are involved in any way by the witnesses selected by the commission, “Zuma added.
He said it was disturbing that his children learned of the investigations when journalists called them the week before the story was published.
Zuma said:
“We are clearly going back to the old methods and times, during which the media were alerted to investigations before even the subjects of such investigations were alerted.”
Zuma added that his children were not in the government and should not be dragged into battles that were “designed to destroy it,” and said that if they were identified as part of the investigations, they should be notified in the same way as others, who were involved. , they were. they too could exercise their rights.
The former president said that banks should not conspire with “illegal investigations”, adding that not even the apartheid regime conspired with banks to enter the accounts of the children of people persecuted by the state.
“In a country that adheres to the rule of law, it should not be the case that our children and relatives are attacked and exhibited in this way. This is selective morality, which protects some from prosecution while labeling others as goats. expiatory is incompatible with our declared culture of human rights and equality before the law. “
Zuma appealed to the commission and law enforcement agencies to keep his children out of their investigations, as they “do whatever they want to punish him.”
Added:
“My family and I have not known peace under apartheid, and yet we remain labeled in post-apartheid South Africa. I have tolerated intense harassment and relentless defamation for 25 years.
“My opponents have now decided to target my children and this is where I draw the line and affirm that this bullying of my children is a declaration of war … I’ve had enough.”
He claimed that his children were also being harassed by the Sunday Times, saying he would “retaliate” for the good of his family.
“I will not stand still when my children have become victims of faceless cowards who obey their masters, who are asked for crumbs and scraps that fall from the table.”
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