Opinion & Analysis

Conspiracy was on the lips of the supporters of dismissed former Deputy President Jacob Zuma as they converged outside the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday this week in a vigil for their fallen hero.

Among the theories gaining support was that President Thabo Mbeki was behind attempts to oust Zuma because he was uneducated. Another had it that Zuma was expelled because he is a Zulu.

Regardless of theories, the general feeling among those who braved the chilly winter night in support of the embattled ANC deputy president was that he had been treated unfairly by Mbeki.

Dumisani Mlambo, 51, a staunch Zuma supporter from Durban, was among those who believe that Mbeki could be behind a plot to oust Zuma.

“I strongly suspect that Mbeki is behind the plot to elbow Zuma out of the way because of the way he sacked him.”

Mlambo also accused Mbeki of trying to please world leaders at the G8 meeting at Zuma’s expense “irrespective of the fact that Zuma has worked for this organisation and is the one who did the spadework when other people were in colleges”.

Joining a chorus of those who believe Zuma has been treated unfairly was Abdul Qadir Essa, an imam at the West Street Mosque in Durban.

Essa, 47, said Mbeki had allowed pressure from “forces that have infiltrated our country to get the better of him”.

“What is being played out right now is a conspiracy by people who have infiltrated the powers-that-be of our country,” said Essa.

He described Zuma’s expulsion as a “total display of ungratefulness to a man who was devoted and committed to the well-being of his people”.

“This is a period we never thought we would go through in a democratic SA,” said Essa, adding that he sincerely believed that Zuma was innocent.

But not all within Zuma’s loyalist camp agreed with the conspiracy theory that he was expelled because he is a Zulu.

Mlambo said it would be simplistic to view Zuma’s expulsion in ethnic terms. “This is not a KwaZulu-Natal thing. It’s not about tribalism. Everywhere people are crying for Zuma. It all boils down to what people want and who must rule them.”

Despite Zuma’s fall from grace and allegations against him, his staunch supporters remain united in their belief that he has been hard done by.

Zuma’s supporters, many of whom arrived at the vigil in flashy cars, erupted into a frenzy of revolutionary songs and pro-Zuma slogans.

Growing hostility towards Mbeki’s decision to expel Zuma was evident when the crowds broke into one anti-Mbeki song after another.

“Uth’asixole kanjani Thabo Mbeki uma udayisa uMsholozi? [How do you expect us to forgive, Thabo Mbeki, when you sell out Msholozi?]”, they sang of their frustration at Zuma’s expulsion.

Clad in T-shirts emblazoned with Zuma’s picture and carrying posters that read “Zuma for President” and “Zuma is innocent until proven guilty” they toyi-toyied through the night while denouncing both Mbeki and former Scorpions boss Bulelani Ngcuka.

They were intermittently addressed by leaders of Cosatu, the ANC Youth League and the Young Communist League, the three forces within the tripartite alliance that have thrown their weight behind Zuma.

One by one, the leaders vowed to keep the “fires burning” for Zuma until the 2007 ANC national conference and the 2009 general election.

Nofikile Ntloko, 49, from Durban, accused Mbeki of thinking like US President George Bush and of being arrogant.

“People have been embarrassed by Mbeki,” she said, adding that those at the vigil were there to encourage Zuma to be strong and to remain calm.

“Through popular demand Zuma is going to bounce back,” she added.

Cynthia Ntabeni, 49, an ANC councillor from Ixopo in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, said the vigil was a demonstration of the pain people felt for Zuma.

“We are here to lend support to him and to encourage him to be strong. We want to say to him we’re there for him and believe in his innocence,” she said.

Nkosinathi Mseleku, 45, a former MK cadre from KwaMakhutha who was recruited by the dismissed former deputy president, spoke highly of Zuma’s contribution to the liberation struggle.

“We are talking about a cadre who has struggled for more than 47 years. A loyal, humble and unassuming cadre of the organisation. We’re not happy about the manner he has been treated.”

With acknowledgements to Bongani Mthethwa and the Sunday Times.