A KwaZulu-Natal businessman and associate of Jacob Zuma has warned government to ensure that the former president would not be poisoned in jail.
Philani Godfrey Mavundla, also known as PG, told the Daily News that he was saddened by his friend's incarceration, but what concerned him most was Zuma's health in prison.
Mavundla said the government and the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services would have to ensure that Zuma comes out alive, or there would be a disaster.
He said there were already fears before Zuma handed himself over to police on Wednesday, and as his friends, they “would never accept any explanation if he dies in prison, more so if his death was suspicious”.
"Our concern is not only about the possibility of him being poisoned, but we are going to hold government responsible, even if his death was a natural one in prison. I want to warn the government that Zuma should not contract any diseases while inside there," said Mavundla.
“Zuma was poisoned before, and I know of his two sons who, were poisoned and one survived while one, unfortunately, died."
Speaking as the president of his party Abantu Batho Congress, Mavundla said Zuma's incarceration was the end of the ANC because he was the glue between itself and the masses.
He felt that Zuma’s incarceration was “ample opportunity” for the opposition to remove the ANC from power.
Mavundla is a former ANC mayor of the uMvoti Municipality in Greytown. He is involved in construction and property businesses. He offered to pay for the cost of the renovations to Zuma’s home in Nkandla after former public protector Advocate Thuli Madonsela ordered Zuma to pay back the money used.
Radical Economic Transformation and newly-formed Release Zuma Campaign coordinator in Gauteng, Meshack Malaza, also raised the poison issue.
He said their biggest fear for Zuma in jail was being poisoned. He alleged the State would feed Zuma a slow killer poison so that he died after being released from prison “and the State will claim he died of natural causes at home”.
The poisoning concerns had also been raised by members of the ANC and Zuma’s family last weekend when they converged outside Zuma's home. An eThekwini ANC branch leader, Ntando Khuzwayo, and the family had raised concerns about jailing a chronically ill, 79-year-old.
Khuzwayo had said their worst fear was Zuma being poisoned in jail and the authorities hiding the cause by saying it was Covid-19 related.
Zuma himself, at a media briefing in Nkandla on Sunday night, said he regarded his imprisonment as a death sentence because of his age and health. These concerns were also contained in his application to the Constitutional Court, where he seeks the rescission of his 15-month prison sentence, which will be heard on Monday.
Addressing the media outside the Escourt Correctional Centre yesterday, Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola said the centre would ensure Zuma's safety in all aspects.
He said it was the Centre’s responsibility to ensure no one would poison Zuma while he was inside. On fears that Zuma would be kept at the notorious and crowded Westville Prison, Lamola said despite the Concourt order, his department had a right to keep inmates where they felt it was suitable.
"The assessment will be done on him, taking into consideration his health and diet, so once we finished, we will be able to say which of our centres will be suitable for him. The law allows us to place our inmates anywhere where we seem they will fine," said Lamola.
The minister also said Zuma was being kept in an isolation cell and announced that Zuma would qualify for parole after serving a quarter of his sentence. This meant Zuma might spend only four months in prison.
Meanwhile, before his arrest yesterday, suspended ANC and Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans' Association (MKMVA) member Carl Niehaus had announced that they were planning to protest outside Escourt Prison until Zuma was released.
He said they had formed the #ReleaseZumaCampaign similar to the Release Mandela Campaign to demand Zuma’s immediate release. He said they would push the campaign as society and not as ANC members.
Niehaus was arrested in the middle of a live television interview and placed inside a police van before being whisked away. Police said they were taking him to the police station to charge him for breaking Covid-19 protocols.
National police spokesperson Brigadier Vish Naidoo said Niehaus is alleged to have convened a gathering of approximately 100 people outside the Estcourt prison at about 4pm yesterday.
“The Disaster Management Act Regulations clearly outlines gatherings are prohibited, except for funerals, where not more than 50 people are allowed to attend," he said.