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Zuma’s legal costs crowdfunding doing ‘extremely well’

Jacob G Zuma Foundation spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi has thanked South Africans who have donated towards the legal costs of the former president. File photo.
Jacob G Zuma Foundation spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi has thanked South Africans who have donated towards the legal costs of the former president. File photo.
Image: Lulama Zenzile

Jacob G Zuma Foundation spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi has thanked generous South Africans who have donated towards the legal costs of former president Jacob Zuma.

Speaking to SowetanLIVE's sister publication TimesLIVE on Tuesday, Manyi would not reveal how much has been raised, only saying the fund is doing “extremely well.”

“I am not at liberty to give you the actual number because that would mean I would have encroached on the bank-client relationship. That account does not belong to the foundation, it belongs to [former] president Zuma. We take the information as it is related from time to time to say the number is growing,” said Manyi. 

A week ago the foundation reached out to Zuma’s supporters to ask for donations to cover his mounting legal bills.

Manyi told TimesLIVE Zuma needs “millions.”

The plea was met with a mixed response. Some supporters said they were willing to donate, while others accused the former president and the foundation of being tone-deaf amid high unemployment and poverty levels in the country.

On Tuesday, Manyi said the foundation is cognizant of this fact, and claimed the contributions speak volumes about public sympathy for the former president.

“We know people are not rich. They are driven by a sense of justice, they are driven by compassion for president Zuma, they are driven by the fact that they know that this man has been incarcerated without trial,” said Manyi.

Zuma is recovering in a military hospital outside the Estcourt Correctional Centre where he is serving a 15-month jail sentence for contempt of court.

He was sentenced in June by the Constitutional Court for refusing to appear and give testimony at the state capture inquiry. 

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