The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
In a tussle that symbolised his tenacious grip over the ANC, Zuma fought on and finally got the finance minister of his choice in March 2017 when Gordhan was ousted in a midnight reshuffle.
In 2016, Zuma agreed to pay back some of the public money spent on his private residence at Nkandla — backing down in the face of a stinging Constitutional Court rebuke.
He has also been accused of corrupt dealings with the Guptas, a wealthy family of Indian origin, and allegedly granted them influence over his cabinet appointments.
That scandal also reached a climax on Wednesday when elite corruption police arrested several people at the Gupta compound in Johannesburg.
Zuma’s tense relationship with his deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa came to a head this month when the movement to recall Zuma from the presidency gained momentum on the week he was due to deliver a key parliamentary speech.
The event was postponed as Zuma and Ramaphosa tried to thrash out a transition deal to ease out the embattled head of state.
– Zulu warrior –
Zuma’s private life is as colourful as his political career.
A proud traditionalist, he often swaps tailored suits for full leopard-pelt Zulu warrior gear, engaging in energetic ground-stomping tribal dances during ceremonies in his village.
At ANC rallies, he was often the first to break into tuneful song.
In the past, he relished leading supporters in the rousing anti-apartheid struggle song “Umshini Wami” (Bring Me My Machine Gun), which became his signature tune.
The teetotaller and non-smoker has four wives and at least 20 children.
Before taking office, Zuma dismayed the nation during his 2006 rape trial when he told the court he had showered after having unprotected sex with his young HIV-positive accuser to avoid, he said, contracting the virus.
The claim incensed safe-sex campaigners — not least because Zuma was head of the country’s AIDS council at the time.
Zuma was acquitted of rape but is often mocked in newspaper cartoons and depicted with a shower nozzle sprouting from his bald head.
At Mandela’s memorial service in 2013, he was loudly booed by ordinary South Africans in front of world leaders.
During Zuma’s time in power, South Africa was rocked by increasing social unrest over the failure to provide housing and basic services to the poorest in society.
Zuma is also still fighting a court order that could reinstate corruption charges against him over 783 alleged payments linked to a multi-billion dollar arms deal in the 1990s.
