Cracks+in+JZ+camp+emerge,+Wonder+Hlongwa,+City+Press

City Press, Johannesburg, 14/04/2007 21:33 - (SA)
=Cracks in JZ camp emerge=


 * WONDER HLONGWA**

Cracks have begun to emerge within the Friends of Jacob Zuma Trust following a litany of public statements apparently issued by Kaizer Mohau, the self-proclaimed spokesperson for the trust in Gauteng.

This week, Zuma’s family members and some trust members were antagonised by statements attributed to Mohau in which he purported to have been one of the organisers of the embattled ANC deputy president’s 65th birthday party.

The party was held at Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre on Friday night and attracted over a thousand revellers, mostly Zuma’s friends and businesspeople who have supported him since his sacking from government and during his rape and corruption trials.

This week, Friends of Jacob Zuma Trust chairperson, Don Mkhwanazi, distanced himself from Mohau, and said he did not speak for the trust. But Mohau hit back, accusing Mkhwanazi of attempting to privatise the trust.

“If the family is not happy, they are not happy because Kaizer (Mohau) said – if he was correctly quoted – that he was waiting for reports (about the birthday) and that they met on Monday (to prepare for the party). He was not even here,” said Mkhwanazi.

Family spokesperson Mike Zuma, however, said the family was not unhappy with either the trust or Mohau.

Zuma’s aide Ranjeni Munusamy said Zuma could not be held responsible for statements issued by members of the trust because it is an independent entity. Sources close to the trust said Mohau had become a law unto himself, making statements without consulting anyone.

Mohau is said to have appointed himself as a spokesperson and begun releasing statements, sometimes from the email of the SA Communist Party (SACP), dealing with issues of the trust.

“He says things that put him in a very difficult position, for example the thing about tax (that the South African Revenue Services leaked Zuma’s alleged tax evasion). He is actually very misinformed on that issue,” said a source close to the trust.

Another source close to Zuma said he was put in a very difficult position when Mohau accused KwaZulu-Natal premier Sbu Ndebele of sabotaging the trust’s fund-raising concert last month. “It really put baba (Zuma) in a dilemma. It was a government function which was planned a long time ago,” said the Zuma ally.

This week Mohau resigned as an employee of the SACP after he was reprimanded by the party’s general secretary, Blade Nzimande, for using the party to issue statements for the Friends of Jacob Zuma Trust, among other things.

Mohau confirmed that he has had “discussions” with Nzimande about some statements he has issued. “Do you remember when we engaged Jeremy Cronin (SACP deputy general secretary) about the statement he made in Limpopo? Obviously, as a functionary I was told that it was very confusing,” said Mohau.

He said he engaged Cronin in his capacity as spokesperson for the trust but was reprimanded because in the “eyes of the public he is known as an SACP media liaison officer”.

Mohau has made several political statements on behalf of the trust, which are believed to have annoyed Zuma because the trust is not a parallel political party to the ANC.

Recently, he accused Ndebele of “sabotaging” the trust’s fund-raising concert in Pietermaritzburg by “busing people away” from Pietermaritzburg to Ladysmith.

This week Mohau lashed out at Mkhwanazi saying that he (Mkhwanazi) wants to privatise Zuma’s support for his personal gain. He said when they organised functions in Johannesburg, such as the concert at Jabulani Amphitheatre, Mkhwanazi endorsed it but now he is turning against them.

“When we organised the function at Jabulani Amphitheatre, they officially endorsed the event. We have organised many other events prior to the Pietermaritzburg one, which was a flop, and where Don came and said they don’t recognise us,” said Mohau.

He said it was a pity that members of the trust were seen to be fighting one another over Zuma.

“Don wants to own JZ as his property. He wants to front himself. He is using JZ to advance himself as a businessperson and as an individual who is a populist,” said Mohau.


 * From: http://www.news24.com/City_Press/News/0,,186-187_2098782,00.html**

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