Duduzane Zuma: 'I'm not on social media, so comments should not be attributed to me'

Duduzane Zuma, son of former president Jacob Zuma, has denied being active on social media.

He said comments about politics and current affairs, made through social media accounts purported to be his, should be considered fake and must not be attributed to him.

An active Twitter account in his name has more than 120,000 followers. It was created in August 2016. Zuma clarified this during an interview with Trending SA on Monday.

He responded to calls for his father to appear before the state capture inquiry and the  inquiry's subpoenas sent to banks to provide financial records of the former president and his children.

Regarding his support for corruption-accused former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede, Zuma said authorities have treated her unfairly. 

Here are interesting quotes from the interview:

My father is independent

“He deals with issues in his own life differently to other people. I have approached issues similar to his of appearing before the inquiry. I have voiced my opinions about how the inquiry has been run, and how I've been treated not just by the inquiry, but the courts of law as well. My advice to him is he needs to do what he needs to do.”

Zooming with the Zumas

“I think lockdown was a challenging time for all of us. We all sat in our homes, trying to understand what was next in the world. No one had any answers and we just lived day by day. During that point, there was a lot of content being put on the internet and on social media. I felt that if other people can put up interesting content, why can't we?”

Social media

“There are social media accounts that purport to be me. I've been on record numerous times. I have stated it, and my lawyers have stated that whatever commentary should not be attributed to me because it is not me on any social media platform. I have absolutely no presence.”

Supporting Gumede

“From my side, I was just saying to Mama Gumede, 'keep fighting'. I've been in that position, like many others. My father is in that position. A lot of other people are facing the music. If people are found guilty, they must go to jail - but if that is not the case, let's not treat them unfairly.”

Living in Dubai

“People don't understand the reason I moved out of SA, and this is why I have spoken about my constitutional rights being trampled upon. People have their views but I have faced the music. I have been in front of one judge, in front of an inquiry. I don't know what more people want me to say.”

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