QUOTABLE QUOTES: JACOB ZUMA IN HIS OWN WORDS
Last week the DA held a press conference about ANC President Jacob Zuma, in which the party released a quotes document outlining some of the ANC president’s more controversial statements and positions. DA leader Helen Zille then wrote to Zuma, setting out his position on ten key issues - like HIV/Aids, the Arms Deal, the separation of party and state and his attitude to the Constitution and asking him to clarify his position with regard to each of them. (For more, see here).
What follows is a summary of the key quotes - 36 of Zuma’s most outrageous statements. They make for disturbing reading.
36 key quotes from the ANC President:
1. On the arms deal:
“What is the problem?”
2. On Robert Mugabe:
“…The people love him. So how can we condemn him?”
3. On the ANC and South Africa’s Constitution:
“[The ANC is] more important [than the Constitution].”
“[the Constitution is only there] to regulate matters.”
4. On how long the ANC will rule, in 2004:
“The ANC will rule South Africa until Jesus comes back.”
5. And, in 2007:
“That is why we believe [the ANC] will be in power forever until the son of man comes back.”
6. On same-sex marriage and homosexuality:
“Same sex marriage is a disgrace to the nation and to God. When I was growing up, ‘ungqingili’ [homosexuals in isiZulu] could not stand in front of me, I would knock him out.”
7. On how to fight HIV/Aids:
“[a shower]... would minimise the risk of contracting the disease.”
8. On the possibility that the arms deal was corrupt:
“It’s just a figment of the imagination.”
9. On crime:
“Our media, which is very open and report on really everything, tend to exaggerate the crime issue…This is why one gets the impression that we have much more crime than other countries.”
10. On Mbeki’s decision to question the link between HIV and Aids:
“I do not know what damage one is causing by asking questions. I do not understand why people would say there has been a damage (sic) that needs to be repaired. There is absolutely no damage.”
11. On which political party God supports:
“God expects [the ANC] to rule this country because we are the only organisation which was blessed by pastors when it was formed. It is even blessed in Heaven. That is why we will rule until Jesus comes back. We should not allow anyone to govern our city [Cape Town] when we are ruling the country.”
12. On the crisis in Zimbabwe (and silent diplomacy), in 2000:
“In practice, we are, in fact, engaged to defuse and solve the problem. Our President is not about to do political propaganda. He is about to ensure that things are done.”
13. And, in 2002:
“…South Africa has done something that other countries have not done: it has engaged the Zimbabwean government in quiet diplomacy. The [African Charter on Human Rights] guides us on how we should handle our affairs in the continent… we have been engaging Zimbabwe and we have not come to a point where we have to look at that charter. We think that the manner in which we are dealing with Zimbabwe, at the moment, is sufficient.”
14. And, in 2004:
“With regard to… Zimbabwe, I don’t think South Africa could do more than what it is doing in terms of engaging Zimbabweans to discuss the issues that aff
| Posted on 24/6/2008
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