Durban - Church leaders, musicians, students, women's organisations and youths were expected to come out in numbers to support former president Jacob Zuma during his court appearance in Durban this week.
Nkosentsha Shezi of the National Funeral Practitioners’ Association of SA said they were calling on as many people as possible to rally behind Zuma when he appeared before Judge Themba Sishi in the Durban High Court on charges of money laundering, corruption and racketeering on Friday.
Shezi said business forums had met at the Durban Pavilion Hotel last week to discuss support for Zuma.
“Different business forums appreciated the fact that president Zuma is no longer the head of state and, therefore, supporting him is not a ticket to tenders or any form of favours. The forums agreed to unite one hundred percent behind Zuma as the father of RET (radical economic transformation) and land expropriation without compensation."
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Shezi described Zuma as the first president to declare expropriation of land without compensation and the person responsible for bringing hope for the restoration of the dignity of African people.
“(We) respect the rule of law and we uphold the notion of innocence until proven otherwise. As such, we are calling upon all people of South Africa to rally behind this giant champion of RET and go to Durban High Court on April 6,” he said.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Jay Naicker said they had not been made aware of any road closures scheduled for Friday, however, communication would be relayed to media houses during the week should there be any.
Kwazi Mshengu of the KwaZulu-Natal ANC Youth League said they had not planned any events surrounding Zuma’s court appearance because the ANC national executive had made a decision that no party structure or leagues should be used to mobilise support for anyone facing criminal charges.
“As the ANCYL, we have to respect that and so those who will be attending the court case will do so in their personal capacity,” he said.