The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) in KwaZulu-Natal has vowed to rally behind former President Jacob Zuma when he appears in court for corruption charges.
Lat week, National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) head Shaun Abrahams announced the reinstatement of the charges against Zuma.
ANC Youth League Provincial Chairperson Kwazi Mshengu says they have started mobilising support for Zuma as he is presumed innocent until the court of law finds otherwise.
The ANCYL says it is in touch with other provinces to ensure that former President receives full support throughout his trial.
In 2005, when Zuma appeared in the Pietermaritzburg High Court, people came in to support him.
ANC supporters brought the city of Pietermaritzburg to a standstill.
However, those charges were subsequently dropped. Ten years later, Zuma finds himself in a similar predicament.
Mshengu says they are confident that the court will rise above politics during the Zuma trial.
“Well, we respect the decision of the NPA to reinstate the charges against (former) President Jacob Zuma. We accept the fact that the prosecutorial power lies squarely with the NPA. Almost 12 years down the line we see the revival of the charges and with the manner in which this case has been also politicised, as you would know, that it was kept alive by opposition parties.”
Mshengu says, “We will be with him in all the processes; we are going to mobilise for him as we did almost 12 years ago. We are going to go all out to mobilise that people to come and support him.”
Meanwhile, Mshengu says Zuma’s continued participation in the election campaign for the ANC will not dent the image of the party, instead it will boost ANC support.
“We don’t believe that his continued participation in the campaign will somehow dent the image of the ANC. (Former) President Zuma is a member of the ANC in good standing. He served the ANC as the president for 10 years. He has never been expelled in the ANC. So, he has that revolutionary responsibility to participate in every campaign of the ANC.”
Some political analysts believe that Zuma can still lobby support ahead of his upcoming appearance in the Pietermaritzburg High Court citing his charm and popularity in the party circles.
The NPA is still expected to announce the trial date.
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