Before we get stuck into this one, how about that image above, snapped by Ihsaan Haffajee and shared to his Instagram?

That’s a cropped version up top, but it shows “the crowd that gathered to support former President Zuma…seen reflected in his glasses as he waits to speak after appearing on corruption charges”.

See the full image here.

OK, back to what transpired last week. For a very brief period on Friday, Jacob Zuma appeared in court.

Then, as is always the case, the legal wheels kicked into gear and the endless series of postponements and appeals began.

You can watch the video of that court appearance here, if you’re into punishing yourself on Mondays for no apparent reason, but we’re going to move along.

Penning a column on Times LIVE, award-winning journalist, television host and political commentator Justice Malala asks a pretty pertinent question – what is Jacob Zuma up to?

Warning – it ain’t pretty:

On Friday, surrounded by supporters after his court appearance on corruption charges in Durban, Zuma broke into song and led the crowd in a rendition of Sengimanxebanxeba (I am full of wounds), a famous Zulu song which the City Press has described as being associated with regiments and which talks of betrayal by one’s own comrades.

Zuma told the adoring crowd that he would defend himself. “He said several times, to loud cheers, that it was a pity that beating up people was no longer allowed otherwise he would have resorted to that,” said the City Press.

These are the words of the former president of the Republic of South Africa. What do they mean? Of course we will be told that this is a figure of speech, that he didn’t imply any violence. But Zuma knows that those are potent words in KZN, a place where political killings are back with a vengeance.

Just like Julius Malema makes light of his words once he is called out on them, so too will JZ let out his trademark carefree chuckle.

Singing and dancing aside, what game is he playing?

First, he is trying to shore up support within the ANC and discredit his new party leader, Cyril Ramaphosa. Over the past three months Zuma has been behaving a bit like a stalker, appearing wherever Ramaphosa appears and trying to outdo him or cast a pall over events by his mere presence…

All these appearances are to insinuate himself within the ANC and help unseat Ramaphosa through a mini internal revolt.

Rumour is rife within the party that the KZN ANC is pushing for an early national general council – usually a half-term assessment meeting – at which a motion of no confidence would be passed against Ramaphosa.

Of course no truly crooked man puts all of his rotten eggs in one basket, which is why Zuma has a plan B.

It’s just as nefarious:

Look at those who surrounded him on Friday. They are all associates of the notorious Gupta family. There was Hlaudi Motsoeneng in all his glory. There was Faith Muthambi, Des van Rooyen and Andile Mngxitama [below]. One needed only Ace Magashule and Supra Mahumapelo to complete the dirty pack. Those “leaders” form the core of what may be a future breakaway party that will be populated with some ANC KwaZulu-Natal leaders.

Already the ANC Youth League in KZN and some of the party’s regional leaders – particularly in eThekwini – are murmuring about being an independent formation. These are the first flutters of that breakaway.

Zuma’s final hand would be to threaten or to foment violence. We know that the man is no constitutionalist. We know that he has over the past 10 years gone out of his way to keep a hard grip on the security establishment. Fearing that he may go to jail, he may try to encourage some sort of rebellion against the centre.

Nothing like a man, fearful of going to jail, dragging the rest of us down with him.

Let’s end on a slightly positive note, because Malala doesn’t reckon that these underhanded tactics are going to end up turning the tide:

He won’t succeed, though. If he tries to unseat Ramaphosa, he will find that his support within the ANC has waned and he would lose. If he tries to break away from the ANC, he will learn, as he has advised others, that it is cold outside the ANC. If he continues to try and foment violence the might of the law must and will come down hard on him.

He is trapped, desperate and about to go to jail. He is a desperate man who is lashing out at everything around him.

I don’t know if he’ll ever end up behind bars, because there are thousands of appeals and delay tactics to come and he’s dodged a million bullets already, but we can take some solace in the fact that he’s clearly miffed out how this saga is playing out.

Small victories and all that.

[source:timeslive]