Supporters of Ex-President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma have camped outside his home in a show of solidarity.
Gatekeepers News reports that Ex-President of South Africa’s Jacob Zuma has received solidarity from his supporters as they gather outside his rural home on Friday as he faced a deadline for surrendering to the police for contempt of court.
On Tuesday, Gatekeepers News reported that the Constitutional Court in an unprecedented ruling handed Zuma a 15-month jail term for repeatedly refusing to comply with an order to appear before the Nation’s graft investigators.
According to the ruling, if the 79-year-old fails to turn himself in by Sunday, police will be given a further three days to arrest him and take him to jail to commence the sentence.
According to a warrant of committal, Zuma would be taken to Westville Prison, about 200 kilometres (120 miles) from Nkandla in southeastern Kwa-Zulu Natal province.
The supporters camping outside his residence are about two dozen women who said they travelled more than 300 kilometres (190 miles) overnight from O.R. Tambo district in the neighbouring Eastern Cape province.
43-year-old Cecilia Nongce who was wearing a traditional Nguni blue-and-red blanket to ward off the cold said: “We support Zuma and we want to know what is going to happen with him, which is why we are here.”
Nongce in Zulu said, “We love Nxamala,” referring to Zuma by his clan name, adding that they hoped he would come out to speak to them.
Another group of supporters arrived in two mini-buses waving ANC flags and wearing white T-shirts with the Zulu inscription ‘wenzeni uZuma’ – “What has Zuma done?”
At the gate of Zuma’s homestead, few vendors set up stalls selling food and African National Congress (ANC) regalia, as goats roamed in and out of the compound.
Also, a big blue tent and a small red one have been erected to shelter members of the veterans of ANC’s armed struggle wing Umkhonto we Sizwe, who have staunchly stood behind Zuma in recent years.
