Zuma responded to the ConCourt

Zuma responded to the ConCourt and ain’t going anywhere

If you thought Jaco Zuma was going to resign so easily, you were sadly mistaken.

Zuma responded to the ConCourt

When the news broke that Jacob Zuma will be addressing the nation at 19:00 on April Fool’s Day, many were ecstatic. The markets betted against him with the Rand strengthening to R14.61 against the Dollar. Many thought the President might be calling it quits.

Instead, he simply said that he would pay back some money towards the “Nkandla non-security upgrades”.

All in all, his speech was pretty disingenuous, starting off with a hat-tip for Nelson Mandela for signing the Constitution into law.

Zuma said it was “never my intention not to comply with the Public Protector’s remedial action or disrespect her/the office.”

Interesting, considering Zuma basically ignored all the suggestions made by the Public Protector’s office.

He added: “I never knowingly set out to violate the Constitution.”

And, just for good measure: I did not act dishonestly, insists the president. The intention was not in pursuit of corrupt ends or to unduly benefit.

Oh, right. Well, that settles that, then.

Then, just for good measure to show that he has not one ounce of leadership in him, Zuma added:

It all happened in good faith, there was no deliberate effort to subvert the Constitution. The judgment has helped me and my colleagues to reflect deeply on the entire matter. With hindsight there are many matters that could have been handled differently and that should never have been allowed to drag on this long. The matter has caused a lot of frustration and confusion. I apologise on my behalf and that of government.