South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma escaped unharmed after his convoy was involved in a car crash on Thursday night.
According to News24, the accident happened shortly before 9 PM between Gingindlovu and Eshowe in KwaZulu-Natal.
The publication reported sources close to the incident as saying that neither the former president nor his bodyguards had sustained any injuries.
Asked what happened, one insider suggested that someone might have deliberately caused the accident. They said:
I would say that people are up to their old tricks. The presidential convoy was on the way to the Nkandla homestead from Durban when the incident happened. It was in the evening. A driver drove into the main car carrying the former president.
The car did not overturn, it was crashed into by another car purposely. Someone drove directly into the presidential convoy. It means they know exactly what they are doing. He is fine and at home.
Pictures supplied to News24 show that the vehicle crashed into the driver’s side of the BMW SUV.
The car’s front tyre seems to have sustained the most damage and scratches could be seen on the front and rear doors.
Another News24 source claimed that a drunk driver had lost control and hit the convoy. They said:
The cars were damaged… everyone was not harmed. The accident happened when the convoy was almost in Eshowe.
The guy was speeding around the bends and was shocked to see the presidential convoy and drove directly into the convoy.
He was so drunk that he could not stand up straight. I do not think that it was deliberate.
Ubaba was taken by another vehicle, and some remained behind.
MK Party head of elections Musa Mkhize told the SABC that they suspected foul play. Said Mkhize:
Unfortunately, we have been waiting for it to happen. The president was warned that before the day of the elections, he would be lying in the hospital. Thanks to the Presidential Protection Unit members who managed to keep the president safe.
As MK Party in KwaZulu-Natal, we are highly concerned, and we are registering this, particularly with the Presidential Protection Services and the Minister of Police, that the president’s safety has been highly compromised due to political interference in his safety.
He claimed that a case had been opened with the police.
Mkhize further alleged that Zuma’s security had been reduced dramatically “and his life is in danger” since he announced his support for the MK Party. He said:
We definitely suspect foul play. The person who is doing this out there knows what they are doing, just because they have powers to deploy and redeploy and cut the safety of the president, which we strongly believe is what led to this.
I have never heard of or seen an incident that happened to the head of state or a former head of state. So why did it happen to President Zuma?
Was there enough personnel for the president? Is it the same personnel that he always had?
Why would a certain car only target the main car where President Zuma was and not the other few cars that were surrounding him? President Zuma was the target.
In a post on X, Zuma’s daughter, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, said her father is in “high spirits” and attending church in Nkandla.
More: Pindula News