Durban - A week after former president Jacob Zuma blasted his successor, President Cyril Ramaphosa and accused him of being corrupt and committing treason over his Phala Phala fiasco, the two are set to share a stage.
They will attend Saturday’s coronation of King Misuzulu KaZwelithini at the Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban.
Ramaphosa will be the one giving the certificate of recognition to the 48-year-old king while Zuma will be a guest.
Zuma is one of the VVIP guests of the king and he was recently recommended to serve in the yet-to-be-certified 23-member Zulu royal council whose duty includes advising the traditional leader.
Although Ramaphosa’s attendance was confirmed long ago, it was Friday revealed in a statement he would also deliver a keynote address at the event.
“The president will also deliver the keynote address,” said a statement from the Presidency on Friday.
Zuma’s spokesperson, Vukile Mathabela, did not comment when asked about Zuma’s attendance.
IN FULL: Here is the full list of roads to be closed around Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban on Saturday during the coronation of King Misuzulu KaZwelithini. @IOL pic.twitter.com/EJLCWHENf2
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) October 28, 2022
However, IOL can reveal that Zuma has been invited and he has confirmed that he will attend the historic event.
“He (Zuma) is coming. He was invited and he duly confirmed that he will attend the historic day,” a member of the coronation committee told IOL.
It remains to be seen how the body language of the two will be and whether Ramaphosa will be welcomed in the backyard of Zuma, his predecessor.
Meanwhile, the historic event has been given a major boost after it was widely feared that Eskom’s load shedding could result in millions of South Africans who want to watch it on TV missing out.
On Wednesday, IOL asked Eskom whether it would consider suspending load shedding just like it did in March last year to allow people to follow the memorial service of the late King Goodwill Zwelithini.
The power utility didn’t respond to the query.
However, on Friday the struggling power company announced that load shedding would be suspended over the weekend.
It said that was due to anticipation that demand would be lower over the weekend.
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