Twenty minutes is all it took for fans of former president Jacob Zuma to buy all the available copies of his book Jacob Zuma Speaks at a “car boot sale”.

That's according to Jacob Zuma Foundation spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi, who told TimesLIVE that from 2pm on Sunday he and Zuma's daughter, Dudu Zuma-Sambudla, met buyers of the books at the Sandton McDonald's after an announcement on Manyi's Twitter page on Saturday.

The autobiography launch was the first of many, according to Zuma-Sambudla.

Manyi said Zuma would be very pleased to hear that the first 100 copies had sold “like hot cakes”.

Manyi posted on social media on Saturday that fans could get their hands on an early release of the book for R300, or R1,000 for an autographed copy. According to publisher, Xarra Books, the book would normally retail for R285.

The sales will go towards paying off Zuma's legal fees.

Calling it a “car boot sale”, Manyi said when he arrived at the McDonald's parking lot, it was full of people who had bought the book online.

“They sold like hot cakes. In 20 minutes — easily — over 100 copies were gone. 

“We only brought 100 copies and way more people bought the book than we could provide so now we have backlogs.”

He did not yet know how much money was raised.

“I'm not sure how much money we made. Some paid R300, others R600, R1,000 and R2,000.

"[Zuma] will most definitely be happy to hear about the sales. We are doing another one on Monday at a clothing store in Midrand. I'm almost sure that all the stock will be sold by 10am.”

He said the partnership with the store was beneficial as the store delivered and there were many buyers from “far-flung” corners of the country. 

On Saturday Zuma-Sambudla wrote on her Twitter page: “My Dad Is Simply The Greatest Man I Have Ever Known. I’m So Proud Of You Dad.”

At his virtual book launch on Friday, Zuma said: 
“I feel very good that some South Africans who are patriots have felt that it was not fair for those South Africans who think differently to tell the kind of stories that were not true.

“The untruth about the work that we have done, demonstrated that the truth is important in society for the society to be well informed to know what is happening. Because there is no use to create stories because you have a powerful machinery to do so.”

According to Xarra Books, most of what is written about the 79-year-old has deliberately been negative.

In their foreword to the book they say: “Much has been written about President Jacob Zuma  ̶  most of which casts him in a negative light. This is often deliberate. The effect has been to airbrush out of history any positive contribution he has made. Jacob Zuma Speaks attempts to provide the necessary historical balance.

“Jacob Zuma Speaks documents some of the socioeconomic policies, measures, and milestones of the Zuma administration. Zuma’s grasp of the socioeconomic challenges facing SA, and his commitment to genuine transformation, are amply revealed.

“The book showcases the potency of Jacob Zuma’s ideas and provides crucial reflections on many of SA’s current-day social and economic challenges.

“The book is not an attempt to paint former president Zuma in glowing terms, but simply to allow the reader to judge him on actual performance, rather than on fake, often manufactured untruths.”

They call the notion of his leadership as “nine wasted years” a lie which is “increasingly being unmasked”.

The book has contributions from Prof Sipho Seepe, Kim Heller, Dudu Myeni and Themba Mathe.

Manyi assured those who paid but did not receive their book that they would get their money back, or they could wait for their copy.

“You can also choose [the payment] to be deemed to have donated [sic]," he wrote on his Twitter page.

TimesLIVE