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Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of Australia) and Jacob Zuma (President of South Africa) in Jakarta, Indonesia. by Australian Embassy Jakarta,

Top 10 Remarquable Facts about Jacob Zuma

Jacob Zuma is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and his clan name Msholozi.  He was a former anti-apartheid activist and a member of Umkhonto we Sizwe, he was also the president of the African National Congress (ANC) between 2007 and 2017. He joined ANC while he was a teenager in 1959 and spent almost ten years as political prisoner in the Robben Island. In 1975 he was ultimately appointed of ANC’s intelligence department. Zuma later on became the deputy president of  south Africa for 6 six years under President Thabo Mbeki.

He was born  on 12 April 1942 in the rural  region of Nkandla , which is now the province of Kwazulu-Natal. The center  of Zuma’s  support. His full name is Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma. He has at least three brothers, Michael , Joseph, and Khanya, and at least one sister, Velephi .Michael Zuma was employed by Khumbula Property Services, a construction company, and in 2011 admitted to using his elder brother Jacob’s political status to secure a government contract for the company in exchange for a homestead in Nkandla.

Here are the Top 10 Remarquable Facts about Jacob Zuma that you consider knowing. They include the following;

1. He launched the R4-Trillion National Infrastructure plan

.As president, Zuma launched the R4-trillion National Infrastructure Plan and signed a controversial nuclear power deal with the Russian government, blocked by the Western Cape High Court in 2017

2. He was a deputy president for six years

 He was deputy president of South Africa from 1999 to 2005 under President Thabo Mbeki, who was  Nelson Mandela’s successor. Mbeki sacked him on 14 June 2005, after his financial adviser, Schabir Shaik, was convicted of making corrupt payments to him in connection with the Arms Deal. Zuma was therefore charged with corruption and was also acquitted on rape charges in a highly publicized 2006 trial.

3. He established the Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, and the National Planning Commission

Under Bulelani Ngcuka, the NPA opened its investigation into Zuma. By HEDspace,

The establishment department of performance monitoring and evaluation and the National-led production of the National Development Plan (NDP) Vision 2030. The NDP is in the earnest process of eradicating poverty, increasing employment and reducing inequality by 2030. Through the NDP, the Government has created a pivot around which all department plans and programme revolved, and were given form, content and even importantly, the much-needed context and coherence.

4. He established a presidential Hotline

The President established a Presidential Hotline which is run by the DPME which continues to score successes in dealing with inquiries from the public and also assists the government to determine what issues trouble South Africans. Given his hands-on manner, President Zuma launched the Siyahlola Presidential Monitoring Programme through which he undertook unannounced and scheduled visits to various communities to ascertain progress in delivering services to the people. Coupled with the Imbizo programme, the President promoted direct interaction with the public and citizens. 

5. He started a foundation

Zuma started the Jacob Zuma Foundation to send children to school and build houses for people living in poverty. The former chairperson of the Foundation is Dudu Myeni.

6. He was a proud polygamous man

Zuma and his third wife, Thobeka Madiba-Zuma, during a state visit to the Iranian city of Isfahan in 2016,By Tasnim News Agency,

Zuma has been married to about six wives, who include the following; Gertrude Sizakele Khumalo, Kate Mantsho, Nkosazana Dlamini, Nompumelelo Ntuli, Thobeka Stacie Mabhija, Gloria Bongekile Ngema.

Zuma has also been engaged to other women, including, from 2002, Princess Sebentile Dlamini, a niece of Swazi King Mswati III. Zuma paid the traditional lobola in cattle but, as of 2022, they have not married, although it was reported in 2017 that they were still engaged.

7. He faced many legal troubles

Some of the legal challenges that Zuma faced include the following; being charged with raping a family friend – acquitted in 2006, charged with corruption over a multi-billion dollar 1999 arms deal – charges dropped shortly before he becomes president in 2009, the court ordered that he should be charged with 18 counts of corruption over the deal – he appealed, but in 2017 lost a bid to overturn them, the court rules that he breached his oath of office by using government money to upgrade private home in Nkandla – he has repaid the money.

8. He is a people’s president 

A crowd of supporters and the curious outside the Johannesburg High Court during the rape trial, Public domain,

Zuma is known for his charisma and affable personality which has been the center of his public image. His charisma is most fully on display at his political rallies, which sociologist Roger South all describes as leaden with “political theatre. Journalist Alec Russell wrote in 2009, “When Zuma gets in front of these crowds, he is more than a politician: briefly, he becomes something closer.

9. He was a freedom fighter

He was imprisoned for 10 years in 1963 for fighting the racist system of apartheid in South Africa, then went into exile in 1975 to become the spymaster of the African National Congress (ANC), before returning to South Africa triumphantly in 1990, and rising to the presidency in 2009, though by then his reputation had been stained by a deluge of corruption allegations. He was also a political prisoner for almost ten years in Robben Island.

10. He did not go to school

Zuma’s third day of testimony to the Zondo Commission, 17 July 2019,By eNCA –

Owing to his deprived childhood, Jacob Zuma did not receive any formal schooling. Heavily influenced by a trade unionist family member, he became involved in politics at an early age and joined the African National Congress in 1959. He became an active member of Umkhonto We Sizwe in 1962, following the banning of the ANC in 1960. Considering that his mother was  a domestic worker and his father who was a policeman died while Zuma was five, thus making it impossible for him to receive any formal schooling.