SOUTH AFRICA: Hundreds of ANC President Jacob Zuma's supporters hold a night vigil

Record ID: 454381

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: Hundreds of ANC President Jacob Zuma's supporters hold a night vigil
  • Date: 4th August 2008
  • Summary: (BN17) PIETERMARITZBURG, SOUTH AFRICA, (AUGUST 03, 2008), (REUTERS) (NIGHT SCENES) PIETERMARITZBURG CITY CENTRE VARIOUS OF ZUMA SUPPORTERS ARRIVING FOR VIGIL SUPPORTERS CARRYING PLACARDS READING : " ALL SHALL BE EQUAL BEFORE THE LAW " SUPPORTERS MARCHING SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) ZUMA SUPPORTER WISEMAN NXUMALO SAYING: "We believe that Mr Zuma is being persecuted because when you look at it, he is being charges for arms related deals and therefore we believe that there are many people in the arms deal who have never being actually investigated, so, that is why we believe it is a persecution." VARIOUS SUPPORTERS SINGING AND DANCING
  • Embargoed: 19th August 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Africa
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA8WVZQE7S67T77PL80M0PVPN5F
  • Story Text: Supporters of Jacob Zuma gathered near the High Court in Pietermaritzburg the night before his court appearance in a corruption case.
    Thousands of supporters will rally behind South Africa's ruling ANC leader Jacob Zuma on Monday (August 4) as the presidential frontrunner seeks to have a corruption case against him dismissed.
    Zuma will appear at a hearing in the high court of the south-eastern city of Pietermaritzburg in a last ditch attempt to stop state prosecutors putting him on trial later this year.
    The case is likely to decide whether the African National Congress (ANC) president will succeed South African President Thabo Mbeki next year.
    Zuma is accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from French arms firm Thint and faces charges of corruption, fraud, money-laundering and racketeering. He denies the charges and says he will step down from his position if convicted.
    Late Sunday (August 3) evening, crowds gathered across the road from Pietermaritzburg High Court, chanting "Who told you that Zuma is guilty?". Some wore hats which read "Jacob Zuma for South Africa President" and others carried placards that carried the words: "All shall be equal before the law."
    Pietermaritzburg's central business district is expected to come to a standstill on Monday when Zuma appears in court, and many streets in the city centre have been barricaded.
    ANC members, supporters from powerful trade union ally COSATU and the Communist Party are all expected to protest Zuma's innocence outside the court during the hearing.
    Zuma defeated South African President Thabo Mbeki for the leadership of the ANC in December amid fierce infighting, sparked by Mbeki's firing of Zuma as the national deputy president in 2005, after he was implicated in a corruption case of his convicted formal financial advisor Schabir Shaik.
    The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) re-charged Zuma with corruption shortly after he took over the helm of the ANC after earlier charges were dismissed due to technical reasons.
    His supporters says the case is a conspiracy by loyalists of Mbeki, aimed at derailing Zuma's political ambitions.
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