IS former president Jacob Zuma finally retiring from politics?
According to a statement by the JG Zuma Foundation on Wednesday night, 13 September, Zuma has taken a decision not to comment in the media on any issues.
Mzwanele Manyi, the spokesman for the foundation, said: "Please be advised that the patron of the foundation, HE President Zuma, will not be doing any media interviews on any matter under the sun."
He did not explain the reason behind this decision.
Well, it might be time for the former statesman to take a break.
Zuma has not had it easy since he stepped down as president on 14 February 2018.
He would have faced a vote of no confidence in parliament the following day.
You could say, he chose the easy way out.
Since stepping down, Zuma has spent more of his time in court fighting to stay away from jail, than enjoying time with his family.
One cannot remember how many times he has appeared in court for various reasons.
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If it is not for the long-standing arms deal trial that dates back to 2015, he is "abusing process" by dragging people to courts for his political reasons.
The recent matters that spring to mind are the private prosecutions bids he brought against President Cyril Ramaphosa, and his arms deal prosecutor Billy Downer and journalist Karyn Maughan.
On both cases, Zuma has suffered humiliating defeats as the courts ruled that his attempts were unconstitutional and unlawful.
He tried to appeal both rulings this week and he lost again – one day apart.
The state's contribution to Zuma's legal fees has been estimated at between R16,78 million and R32 million.
In 2022, he spent some time at Estcourt prison after defying a Constitutional Court order that he presents himself to the Zondo commission and answer questions.
Though he spent an hour in the cells before Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ranald Lamola granted him a special remission of his prison sentence, it is still an indictment on the former liberation movement leader.
He will go down as the first democratic president to be condemned to jail.
On the politics side, he tried to stage a comeback during the African National Congress’ 55th elective congress in Nasrec, south of Joburg in December 2022 but he left with his tail between his legs.
Ramaphosa’s slate made a clean sweep.
He shockingly resurfaced as the chairman of the SA National Civic Organisation (Sanco) in KZN but that was also short-lived, because it turned out that the faction he was leading had been expelled from the organisation.
The two warrying structures agreed to disband.
Zuma's break from media interviews could come in handy as he has some other cases to prepare.
One being the arms deal trial in the Pietermaritzburg High Court for which if found guilty, he could be sent to jail for much longer than the one hour he spent in Estcourt prison last month.
Rest well, Msholozi. The road ahead looks bumpy!
