Cape Town – Former South African president Jacob Zuma has indicated his interest to become president of the country again but maintained that it was up to the people.
Zuma said that if it were up to him, he would have remained president of the country forever.
He said this while speaking to the media on Saturday for the first time since his 15-month prison sentence ended.
Zuma said although he was relieved the sentence had ended, he questioned whether he was “really free” given the pending court decision in a case brought forward by the white right-wing organisation, seeking to “send me back to prison”.
When asked if he would be available for another term as the country’s president, he said that it was up to the citizens of this country.
“That depends on the people of South Africa. If it depended on me then I would have been president forever but it doesn’t work that way,” said Zuma.
He, however, wouldn’t say if he believed Ramaphosa was deserving of a second term.
“People generally say there is no money, and things are bad in the country. They are saying that there is a problem in the country. Many people are saying that this president has failed, it’s not me,” said Zuma.
He said that Ramaphosa had done things that were not presidential and not right.
“It’s the ANC conference that will deal with whether they want him back or not,” Zuma said
He pointed out that Ramaphosa had not delivered on the mandate of the ANC and stated some of the allegations against the president.
“Here is a scandal found in his home. There is money, dollars, and he accepts that it’s his money. It’s never done. It’s never done and he is doing it as the president of the ANC. You can start from (Nelson Mandela) Madiba, nobody kept millions of dollars of money. It’s wrong,” said Zuma.
When asked about his relationship with Ramaphosa, Zuma said Ramaphosa was his comrade although he hadn’t spoken to him in the “past”.
“I talk to all comrades and I have been with him in leadership. I haven’t talked to him in the past because he is very busy. He is the president and I am staying in Nkandla. I cannot disturb him when he is president, so I am in Nkandla,” Zuma said.
On his availability to serve as president and chair at the upcoming conference, he said the party’s members could make a decision about individuals.
“Nobody is debarred from that. Everybody can be nominated. I hear that I am being nominated by the branches and we have not sat in a meeting where I have said I am standing or not standing.
He said that he had been informed that he was nominated as president and deputy but had not indicated if he was up for the job or not.
Zuma said branches had the right to nominate him for any position and “who am I to defy if the ANC takes a decision?”.
He said he would, however, decline if the branches asked him to take a second term as president because “it all depends on the ANC”.
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Compiled by Olwethu Mpeshe
