Cape Argus E-dition

Jacob Zuma’s daughter Jabu takes aim at Naomi Campbell

LIAM KARABO JOYCE liam.joyce@inl.co.za

FORMER president Jacob Zuma’s daughter Jabu Zuma has hit back at British model Naomi Campbell, who penned an open letter to him.

Zuma is currently in jail for being in contempt of court.

In an open letter, addressed to the British supermodel, Jabu said the celebrity was not qualified to speak on Zuma’s affairs.

This was in response to Campbell’s open letter, which she posted on Instagram. In it, the supermodel said that the recent looting and destruction – of scores of businesses in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng – had threatened to undo what Nelson Mandela had fought hard to achieve.

“Each day you defy the courts and stoke division, you take a step backwards from Madiba’s vision for SA to prosper and for there to not only be equitable political justice, but also economic justice,” wrote Campbell. She said the recent civil unrest, that grabbed international headlines, was not the South Africa that she remembered, nor was it the one that had been exemplary to the rest of the world, and called for Zuma to end his defiance.

“I have watched how, over the last few years, you have protested your innocence at the allegations tabled against you– of corruption and allowing mass state capture. I have seen you go out of your way to avoid having to deal with these matters in court and avoiding a commission set up to investigate state capture,” Campbell wrote.

She continued: “You have talked of the rule of law and the South African Constitution being something that should apply to everyone. Yet you defied the courts and were sentenced to 15 months in prison. Now, upon your incarceration, a group of protests under the #FreeZuma banner broke out, igniting the worst violence and criminality South Africa has seen since the end of apartheid.”

She went on to say that the protests will have a long-lasting effect. If the former president considered himself a leader, he should act like one, she added.

“If you still consider yourself a leader, then please act and take responsibility like one. Agree to finish your appearance in front of the state capture commission and, equally, you will have your day in court to contest the corruption charges alleged against you. Put the nation first,” she said.

Following this, Jabu hit back saying Campbell knew nothing about South African history or the sacrifices made by her father towards democracy.

“What you remember SA to be is not and has never been a reflection of the true SA,” she said in the letter, which was shared by one of the more vocal of Zuma’s children, Duduzile, on her Twitter page.

“If you had actually been watching president Zuma over the last few years as you claim, you will be well aware of the fact that all he has ever called for was a fair trial.

“He has been more than willing to stand in front of a court and prove his innocence,” Jabu said.

She said many of the delays in Zuma’s court appearances were as a result of the State calling for postponements, except for a few incidents – where Zuma missed appearances because of incidents beyond his control. She denied that her father was evading the state capture commission.

“President Zuma has never had an issue with appearing before the commission, he’s done so previously. His issue lies with having to appear before Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo,” said Jabu.

On the looting and unrest that followed in the days after Zuma’s incarceration, Jabu said that the unrest went beyond her father.

“The civil unrest is bigger than president Zuma’s arrest. South Africans are hungry, impoverished, unemployed, and tired of living in a country where the government marginalises them.

“As history shows, when the poor have nothing else to eat, they eat the rich,” Jabu added, highlighting what she claimed to be failures of the government, under the leadership of President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Jabu said Campbell was in no position to share her views on Zuma’s vision and his part in the Struggle.

“You’re simply not qualified and must be deluded to think you could ever (make recommendations on what Zuma should do),” she concluded.

LIFE

en-za

2021-08-04T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-08-04T07:00:00.0000000Z

http://capeargus.pressreader.com/article/281857236583887

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