Jacob Zuma Ramatlhodi

President Jacob Zuma. (Gallo Images)

Jacob Zuma says nobody has been able to connect him to state capture

“I have done nothing out of order.” – Jacob Zuma

Jacob Zuma Ramatlhodi

President Jacob Zuma. (Gallo Images)

Former President Jacob Zuma has, once again, maintained his innocence in the state capture debacle, despite being implicated by testimonies given before the Zondo commission.

In an ironic twist of events, considering Zuma’s dubious and destructive tenure as the president of South Africa, the former head of state appeared on SABC’s Leading Citizens show on Monday night, and revealed ‘facts’, which bordered on the delusional.

Zuma says nobody has evidence against him

Zuma has said and done some pretty outlandish things in the past, but on Monday night, his outright denial of involvement with the infamous Gupta family took things to a whole new level of ignorance.

As reported by EWN, Zuma argued that, while he was keeping a close eye on the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, no evidence had been brought against him which would implicate or connect him to the Gupta’s dodgy dealings, saying:

“I’ve been listening very attentively to somebody who is going to come with the evidence that this is what Zuma did in general or with the Gupta family, but nobody has produced evidence.

I get worried that at a level of South Africa there are things we can distort and they become a fact when they are, in fact, necessarily not a fact.”

“I led positively and honestly.” – Zuma on his term as president

Things moved from bizarre to just plain bad when Zuma, who was asked by the TV show’s host to rate his term as president of the country, denied any wrongdoing, stating emphatically:

“I have led positively and honestly. I have respected the people of this country; I have respected what belongs to them and I have done nothing out of order.”

Here’s why Jacob Zuma’s got it wrong

But despite Zuma’s hearty dismissal of mismanagement and nepotism, various testimonies, evidence submissions and in-depth investigations have revealed how Zuma, along with his cohorts, abetted the sale of state resources to the Gupta family.

Themba Maseko, Vytjie Mentor, and former Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene have all implicated Zuma in state-capture, with written reports from Pravin Gordhan and Barbara Hogan, which are said to reveal the former president’s intricate involvement, due to be taken into account in November.

In fact, Zuma’s lawyer Daniel Mantsha, forced a postponement of Hogan’s testimony, arguing that while the former minister’s statement does indeed implicate his client in state capture, it was received too late to allow for a formal response.