President Jacob Zuma’s eldest son Edward entered the Gupta controversy and came out with guns blazing in defending his family from “a bitter‚ white‚ old man”.
He reacted angrily to veteran journalist Max Du Preez’s assertions that his “clan” has become rich because of the Guptas.
In his column‚ published online on Tuesday and titled “Was 9/12 the beginning of Zuma’s end?”‚ Du Preez wrote that “the fact that Zuma’s children and other clan members became very rich very quickly because of their father’s ties with the Guptas‚ even the embarrassing Waterkloof incident‚ did not do much damage to the Zuma/Gupta complex”.
“One has to outline a few things on what the bitter‚ white‚ old man is saying. Max‚ you are such a hypocrite and liar that you have began to believe yourself with the lies you seek to feed South Africans and the world‚” Edward wrote in a statement on Wednesday.
His half-brother Duduzane is a business associate of the Gupta brothers‚ who have been accused of influencing Zuma’s government decisions and fingered in allegations of “state capture”.
“He is lying and misleading people and the country. One has to state that I don’t have a relationship with the said family [Gupta] that is business-related‚ hence I am a self-made businessperson in my own right‚ not unless Du Preez is saying we aren’t clever enough to be our own persons without the Guptas‚” he argued.
He said it would be stupid and very selective of Du Preez to single out the Zuma family when there are known billionaires who are also politicians and who have relationships with certain families that “practically own” South Africa.
“And Du Preez is also one of their boys who suck up to them whenever they cough. Max must cease being pathetic in his unfounded assertions‚ which he continuously writes to please the Stellenbosch masters that pay them millions to tarnish the image and name of the president‚” he said.
Edward said his father was never made by the media nor the Stellenbosch masters‚ “and will not be broken by them“.
“As far as one is concerned‚ they are just a bunch of greedy people who are exploiting our people with the support of those that attend meetings in dark corners plotting to destabilise our country in the name of strengthening the economy.”
“They and their allies in the West obviously have a problem with the existence of the golden Brics‚ which clearly is not to their favour as this will make us as Africa and South Africa to be independent of these barbaric and greedy masters in the west‚” he wrote.
Source : Sowetan
