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Death threats were directed towards former president Jacob Zuma, his children and his legal team on Monday subsequent to his testimony before the Zondo Commission.
The former president, before beginning his second day of testimony on Tuesday, asked to address the commission and said he wanted “to place on record” threats that he had received through his personal assistant.
“Yesterday Chair, following my testimony before you, my personal assistant - the one I received from the ANC - informed me that she got a call from an unidentified person who told her to tell me that: Tell Zuma that we are going to kill him and his children also.”
Zuma added that threats have also been directed towards his legal representatives.
During his explosive testimony on Monday, Zuma also placed on record that there had been numerous attempts to assassinate him and his character.
Sharing details of one of these attempts, Zuma revealed a plot to kill him which was coordinated in March this year during the Maskandi fill up Moses Mabhida Stadium event in Durban.
“The plan to kill me in Durban was detailed and involved many people – some even brought from outside the country,” he said.
The individuals brought in were “suicide bombers”, Zuma claimed, and were meant to carry out the assassination during the Maskandi show.
“This matter is bigger than what meets the eye,” he said.
Zondo reiterated that: “It is totally unacceptable for anybody in our society to want to resort to violence and intimidation or any kind of illegal means when they are unhappy about anybody (in particular their testimony).”
He added there were legal routes that disgruntled individuals could take instead of resorting to such behaviour.
Zondo said it was even more bewildering that such threats should be made to an individual giving testimony before the commission.
He reiterated that, just as he had expressed when threats were made while former Bosasa chief operations officer Angelo Agrizzi was giving testimony, “it was totally unacceptable” that such threats should be made as this was against the spirit of the commission which is trying to get as much information as possible to arrive at an informed finding.
Zondo went on to address the threat on Zuma’s legal team.
“They are advocates doing their job in representing Mr Zuma, everyone is entitled to legal representation and should therefore not be harassed, intimidated or have threats on their lives.”
Zondo urged the commission’s legal team to see to it that the former president is kept safe.
He, however, expressed that - because of Zuma’s prominent position - the commission might not be in the position to provide “better protection than that which he is already getting.”
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