When former president Jacob Zuma steps into the dock of A court at the Durban High Court on Friday‚ he will do so with the backing and well wishes of thousands - including controversial business forums‚ funeral parlour bosses and men of the cloth.

Those in his corner say they have whipped up a groundswell of support for Zuma‚ and have funded the hiring of over 100 buses to ferry his loyalists from Durban and the surrounding areas to the cordoned-off areas just beyond the courtroom.

Two marches‚ a night vigil and a support rally have been planned for the 24 hours leading up to Zuma’s day in court.

There‚ a conglomerate of church leaders say they will also hold the “mother of all prayers” for divine protection of the man they have dubbed the “father of radical economic transformation”.

In the run-up to Zuma’s first court appearance on Friday‚ a group of business forums with the moniker RET Champions embarked on a fundraising campaign to bankroll the logistics behind Zuma’s support network.

These structures include the National Funeral Practitioners Association of South Africa (Nafupa SA)‚ who courted controversy earlier this year with a call for white and Indian owned funeral parlours to cease their operations in townships.

Spokesman Nkosentsha Shezi said that they were unable to attach a value to the money raised for Zuma‚ but said they were shaping up to have thousands there to support him.

“We have already have enough to fund 100 buses to go around Durban and the province to fetch his supporters. I cannot give you figures but we have everything‚” he said.

“We are preparing for the night vigil and the march. We are fundraising to take care of the logistics around public support for him‚” he added.

Another cog in the RET Champions machine is the controversial Delangokubona Business Forum. The forum has often been accused of threatening construction bosses in an effort to get a share of contract work‚ halting work on multi-billion rand projects around the province.

There is a similar but separate body calling themselves the RET Defenders‚ although their provenance is unknown.

The National Interfaith of South Africa (NICSA) and Commission for Religious Affairs (CRA) have thrown their bibles behind Zuma‚ saying that he was targeted because “he ensured the foundation for the implementation of the Radical Socio-Economic Transformation”. In a statement issued on Wednesday‚ the religious groups thanked Zuma for his dedication to the fight for freedom.

“We thank Nxamalala for being a dedicated freedom fighter of the ANC who served the glorious movement with dedication. The maturity he displayed when he tendered his resignation and throughout the transition period is an affirmation of his selflessness and the love for the ANC.”