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Where is former president Jacob Zuma?
Peter Foley – Pool / Getty Images
- Former President Jacob Zuma has visited Eswatini and Zambia for what appears to be a private business.
- Zuma reportedly met with King Mswati III and Zambian President Edgar Lungu.
- During apartheid, Zuma lived in both countries in exile.
Former President Jacob Zuma has not been sitting in Nkandla waiting for tea dates. Instead, he has traveled to the former havens of exile for what were said to be personal matters.
According to Eswatini press reports, Zuma was in the kingdom over the weekend where he visited King Mswati III and stayed at The Royal Villas in Ezulwini, just outside the capital, Mbabane.
He reportedly arrived on Sunday and stayed one night.
TO Eswatini Times The story, which featured a front page photo of Zuma’s parade through Manzini, did not specify whether he stayed in one of the cheaper rooms at a cost of around R2,000 a night, or in the Sultan Suite, at a cost of R30,000 per night.
READ | ‘Ramaphosa is not welcome in Nkandla‘
“The former SA president had been to the country on a private visit to Their Majesties,” the publication reported, adding that Zuma’s nephew Khulubuse Zuma married Princess Fikisiwe in 2014, prompting more frequent visits. of the former president.
Citing the South African History Online website, the publication also noted that Zuma was living in Eswatini “around 1975 at the height of the struggle against white rule – apartheid – in South Africa.”
Locals who saw him at the hotel were reportedly excited to see him. Others who witnessed his caravan running through Manzini on Monday morning, took pictures and expressed a desire to have tea with him in Nkandla.
Several Emaswatini also speculated on Twitter:
Guys, is President Zuma still in #eSwatini. When we close the streets we are small ??????
– Melusi Simelane ??? ?????? (@MelusiSiboniso) March 1, 2021
I would have been surprised if Jacob Zuma had not visited Eswatini. Whenever his legal problems seem to get worse, he comes to Eswatini, kutotfola sikhonkwane. Surprisingly Mozambique has better facilities in this regard than we do, but I guess it works for Jacob Zuma … pic.twitter.com/JlmulsfICF
– African nomad (@ MphileSihlongo1) March 1, 2021
In mid-January, Zambia Lusaka Times reported that Zuma had “infiltrated” the country and had an hour-long meeting with President Edgar Lungu at State House.
Sources told the publication at the time that Zuma had been there on a “secret mission.” Those sources reportedly told Lungu that he handled the Covid-19 pandemic better than President Cyril Ramaphosa, who “brought tanker trucks and an entire army to the cities, but the cases continue to rise.”
South Africa was at the height of the second wave of Covid-19 infections at the time.
Zuma has been photographed at his home in Nkandla, ignoring Covid-19 safety precautions related to wearing masks when mixing with people outside the home.
A Zambian official confirmed to News24 that Zuma was in Zambia on January 10.
“Among the people he met were prominent and veteran Zambian lawyer Professor Patrick Mvunga and his nephew Christopher Mvunga, former Deputy Minister of Finance (2015) and now Governor of the Bank of Zambia (Reserve Bank),” said the official in response to a WhatsApp Inquiry.
“The Mvunga family has a long relationship with ANC leaders, including Jacob Zuma, who lived in Lusaka during the years of exile.”
Christoper Mvunga, in turn, spent almost two decades living in South Africa.
Mvunga lived in South Africa since 1997 and only returned to Zambia when he was appointed deputy finance minister, the official said.
Zuma’s visits across the border came amid travel-related difficulties during the Covid-19 pandemic. There is a requirement that cross-border travelers must take Covid-19 tests before returning to South Africa.
Recently, several politicians, including some from the ANC, visited him at his home in Nkandla to try to convince him to obey a Constitutional Court that forced him to testify in the state capture commission.
Zuma is due to appear in court on March 25 to explain his challenge after the commission requested his imprisonment for his refusal to obey the court order.
Zuma Foundation spokesperson Vukile Mathebula has been reached for comment and the comment will be added to the story once it is received.
However, a source working closely with Eswatini officials confirmed to News24 that Zuma was there last weekend, “no [on] official business “- adding that he went there frequently for” private visits. “
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