Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma, South Africa’s fourth
president since independence in 1994, resigned on Wednesday last week,
succumbing to sustained pressure by his ruling party, African National Congress
(ANC) and the opposition to quit office over corruption allegations and
scandals.
His deputy and the ANC president, Cyril Ramaphosa succeeded
him as the fifth president.
Below are ten things to know about the deposed
leader.
Sources; BBC , South
African History Online, news24,
The
South African, Al
Jazeera,
Gedleyihlekisa
Zuma’s second name means, ‘One who laughs at you
while physically hurting you’.
His critics severally accused him of embodying the
name, pointing to his arrogance and numbness when security forces brutally man-handled
legislators from the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party inside parliament in
February 2015.
Teen
sentenced to jail
In August 1963, Zuma was sentenced to ten years in
jail for conspiracy to overthrow the then apartheid regime, alongside other
members of the military faction of ANC, Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the
Nation).
He was 21 years old and member of the faction that
was instrumental in ending apartheid rule in 1993.
Sporting
background
Zuma captained the Robben Island Prison team,
Rangers during his jail-term. He also
played table tennis, chess and other athletics disciplines on the island.
Eight
political lives
Zuma survived eight votes of no-confidence before his
resignation. The first vote of no-confidence in his presidency was while the
eighth was in August 2017, as corruption allegations against him raged.
Nkosazana
Dlamini-Zuma
Zuma married her in 1972, but divorced in 1998. They
have four children.
Nkosazana Dlamini served as the Chair of the African
Union Commission from October 2015 to January 2017.
In December 2017, she contested the ANC presidency
but lost to Cyril Ramaphosa.
Influential
family
Zuma second term was synonymous with allegations of
corrupt relationship with Indian-born Gupta family, who influenced ministerial
appointments.
In March 2016, the then deputy Finance minister,
Mcebisi Jonas said a member of the Guptas offered to promote him to the
minister’s position in 2015.
The family was linked to the sacking of respected
Finance minister, Pravin Gordhan in March 2017.
In 2013, a family plane carrying guests during Vega
Gupta’s wedding, landed at the Waterkloof Air Base near Pretoria. The military
base is reserved for visiting heads of state and diplomatic delegations.
Sex
scandal
Fezekile Ntsukela, an HIV/AIDS activist, accused
Zuma of raping her on Wednesday November 2, 2005, when he was the ANC deputy
president.
At the time of the alleged ordeal, Ntsukela known to
the South African company as Khwezi was HIV-positive.
The court acquitted Zuma of the charges in 2006,
after claiming the sex was consensual.
Khwezi died in 2015.
Outrageous
remedy to HIV/AIDS
After the sex with the then HIV-positive Khwezi,
Zuma told the court during his trial that he showered in a bid to reduce the
risk of contracting the disease.
Sexual
allegations
Vytjie Mentor, a former ANC legislator in her book,
No Holy Cows alleged that Zuma twice made sexual advance son her while he was
the country’s deputy president.
Mentor claimed the incidents took place in early
1990s and the other in mid-2000s, adding that the first one occurred during an
ANC conference in Durban Westville when Zuma invited her to his hotel room.
An un-named journalist claimed Zuma invited her to
his Forest Town home, where he requested her to accompany him to another room
where he ‘wanted to show her something’.
She alleged that Zuma then pressed himself against
her and planted a long kiss on her before she managed to pull away.
The allegations are contained in a book written by Redi
Tlhabi, a former radio host.
Nkandla
Scandal
Zuma improperly spent $23 million of state funds to
upgrade his rural residence in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal province.
He later publicly apologized in April 2016 and
accepted a court ruling that ordered him to repay the money.
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