Nkandla - Recall Jacob Zuma at your peril.
This is the warning from Nkandla residents amid speculation that the president, whom they fondly refer to as Mkhulu (grandfather), would be recalled before his term ends in 2019.
Zuma’s future came under heavy scrutiny again last week during the ANC’s national executive committee meeting. The party’s top structure resolved to task the Top Six, led by party President Cyril Ramaphosa, to deal with the Zuma recall issue.
A recall by the NEC, led by Zuma eight months before his term expired, was the fate suffered by Thabo Mbeki in 2008.
Will Zuma suffer the same fate?
Not according to his brother, Khanya, 73, who dared detractors in the ANC to try and remove him from his office at the Union Buildings before the end of his presidential term in 2019.
“Gedleyihlekisa (Zuma’s name) worked hard in his youth to free us as a nation. He doesn’t deserve what they are doing to him. It’s painful for us as the family and it makes me angry,” charged Khanya.
What triggered his rage, he said, was that Zuma had transformed his KwaNxamalala village and many others which were underdeveloped when he took over as the country’s president in 2009.
President Jacob Zuma's brother Khanya Zuma at his home in Nkandla
Picture; DOCTOR NGCOBO / African News Agency
Khanya, who lives in a modern-styled rondavel just outside the perimeter fence which encircles Zuma’s house, said what drove him mad was the disrespect shown by EFF leader Julius Malema for the president.
“When that boy (Malema) came here in 2014, I told my brothers that we must beat him up because he was undermining our village. I wanted to teach him a lesson, but my brothers warned me against doing that,” Khanya added.
He was adamant Zuma would not succumb to the pressure for him to step down despite a series of #ZumaMustFall marches and motions of no confidence against him.
“Gedleyihlekisa is one of a kind. Even when we were growing up, he was the strongest of all among us. He is strong and he will not succumb to the pressure for him to step down. I know him,” he said.
Recently, Zuma gave the green-light to a commission of inquiry, to be chaired by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, to probe the widespread allegations of state capture.
On Thursday, he released the terms of references for the investigation. Zuma’s close allies, the Gupta family, and his son, Duduzane, were implicated. But Khanya believes that this was done to draw attention away from the “real capturers of state”.
“Why is the relationship between Gedleyihlekisa and the Guptas unique? Many in the ANC leadership have business friends who they benefit from. Why is it not called corruption regarding them?” he asked.
Another resident, Ngoneni Luthuli, 51, who knew Zuma, whom she referred to as Mkhulu when she was in her 30s, said the calls also angered her.
“Some people are deliberately tarnishing Mkhulu’s image. But we are fortunate in Nkandla because we know the kind of person he is. To us, he is not a president but our Mkhulu. We will defend him to the last minute.”
Luthuli said Zuma brought “light” into the “dark” rural village of KwaNxamalala which she said was a pipe dream when growing up.
Among the developments that came with Zuma’s presidency were tarred roads, running water and electricity, she said.
Sthandiwe Hlongwane, 35, was once an EFF supporter, and the party had previously built a house for her. But she has since turned her back on the EFF and is now singing Zuma’s praises.
Hlongwane, who lives close to Zuma’s house, said the calls for Mkhulu to step down were baseless. Zuma’s house attracted controversy after former public protector Thuli Madonsela found that the president and his family had unduly benefited from state-sponsored security upgrades to the estate.
Nhlanhla Hlophe, 71, a resident who claimed to know Zuma personally, said: “Zuma is targeted because he has prioritised poor people who were ignored for many years.”
Sipho Mkhize, 33, agreed: “Zuma had showed the world that he cared for poor people by introducing free education. As the president, he deserves to live in a secured house.”
The ANC had played its cards close to it chest regarding the speculated recall.
Secretary-general Ace Magashule has repeatedly quashed claims that Zuma would be recalled before the State of the Nation address scheduled for February 8.
The Nxamalala clan is widely revered in Nkandla, so much so that a local school, Mnyakanya High, a stone’s throw from the president’s home, was named after Zuma’s grandfather.
Mfanukhona Mbatha, 28, said although he was against the move to remove Zuma from office, there was nothing that had changed in his life since he had become president.
“I’m still living in a shack and still unemployed. Until I get a house and job, then I would speak out and not be shy in defending the president.”
After interviews with Zuma’s neighbours under the scorching sun, the Sunday Tribune team dashed to Zuma’s wife’s tuck shop, Sizakele Ma Khumalo, for refreshments. Items such as bread, sugar and candles were on the shelves.
While Zuma seemed a villain to many, to Nkandla residents he was a hero they vowed to defend to the end.