Zuma’s son reacts to court ruling: ‘They’ll have to kill me first’

Former president Jacob Zuma’s son, Edward has vowed to defend his father from ANY attempt by the police to arrest him.

Zuma Jr. was reacting to the Constitutional Court’s historic ruling, which found the former statesman guilty of contempt and subsequently sentenced him to 15 months behind bars. When acting Deputy Chief Justice Sisi Khampepe delivered the majority judgement on Tuesday morning, 29 June 2021, she said Zuma had a period of five days to present himself to a police station and subsequently begin serving his sentence.

Speaking to journalists outside Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), Zuma Jr. was reluctant to give reaction as a family. He said as a family, they were yet to engage Zuma on the ruling. Zuma said police would have to get passed him first, before they put the handcuffs on his father.

“As Edward Zuma, I think my position has been known. I still maintain my position that whatever decisions are taken by law enforcement agencies of this country, they’ll have to kill me first before such a thing is implemented”

Edward Zuma

Edward Zuma calls on supporters to rally behind his father

Edward Zuma has further warned that the support for former president Jacob Zuma will see no end – particularly in the coming days, as the deadline for him to hand himself over nears. Zuma Jr. When there was speculation of Zuma being possibly arrested, members of the uMkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA) and other supporters of the former president, camped outside his Nkandla home. This was to protect him against arrest.

Well Zuma Jr. has hinted that the situation could be escalated this time around.

“In fact, you must expect worse than what has been witnessed in the previous months and past years. We appreciate the support and we encourage people to come in their numbers to come and support president Zuma,” he said.

Asked whether he was not concerned about violating COVID-19 restrictions (on gatherings) he said: “We are in a situation of war here. We can’t be considering COVID-19 situations. If it means we die, then we die.”