CAPE TOWN, April 4 (Xinhua) -- The South African Communist Party (SACP) said on Wednesday it will not support former president Jacob Zuma when he appears in court later this week.
The SACP "is definitely not supporting Zuma" who will on Friday appear at the Durban High Court to face fraud, corruption and racketeering charges, SACP Secretary General Blade Nzimande said.
"We are of the view that as the SACP we really do need to respect the courts. The courts have come around to establish that this case must go ahead. We must abidy by that and we won't be outside the courts this time," Nzimande told the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).
Nzimande, also Minister of Transport, was speaking as a number of religious, business and political parties called on South Africans to support Zuma.
The National Interfaith Council of South Africa, the Commission for Religious Affairs (CRA), Delangokubona Business Forum, the National Funeral Practitioners Association of South Africa and Black First Land First held a joint press conference in Durban on Wednesday to rally support for Zuma.
Zuma faces 16 charges of fraud, corruption and racketeering in relation to an arms deal in the late 1990s. The muli-billion-rand deal involved procurement of weaponry from European countries.
Zuma has denied any wrongdoing in the deal.
When Zuma appeared in court in 2005 to face rape charges, the SACP, along with the ruling African National Congress (ANC), was at the forefront of supporting him. Zuma was then deputy president.
But this time, not only the SACP, a coalition partner of the ANC, but also the ANC refrains from supporting Zuma. The ANC has said that people can support Zuma in their personal capacity but not as party members.
