It is understandable, I suppose, when President Thabo Mbeki defends Deputy President Jacob Zuma against "bribe charges".

Mbeki suggests that "people who make the accusations need to go and prove it in court", but the rest of us are surely entitled to form our own opinions in the meantime?

Zuma is either innocent or guilty of taking bribes, as he already knows . But the rest of us do not yet know. So I think Mbeki is wrong about "proceeding from the position that everybody is innocent until they're found guilty".

I suspect that Zuma is widely suspected of taking bribe.

Mbeki is as entitled to his opinion about this, as the rest of us.

But, like the rest of us, he should not prejudge a court's finding.

And he certainly should not be giving support to the unfortunately far too widespread African view that unless a court finds you guilty you are innocent even if you did it.

With acknowledgements to Jim Harris and the Business Day.