South Africa's Zuma under fire as corruption book flies off the shelves

Accusations of corruption against the president are not new, but a new book with serious allegations has caught the public's attention; both South Africa's spy agency and taxman have threatened legal action against the author.

President Jacob Zuma, seen here addressing parliament in Cape Town, has come under fire following a book that details allegations of corruption and tax evasion.
Reuters

President Jacob Zuma, seen here addressing parliament in Cape Town, has come under fire following a book that details allegations of corruption and tax evasion.

South Africa’s controversial President Jacob Zuma has found himself in the firing line yet again following the publication of a book that alleges that he has been on the payroll of criminal networks.

The book – The President's Keepers – by investigative journalist Jacque Pauw is so controversial that the country’s spy agency, the State Security Agency (SSA), sent the publishers a lawyer’s letter ordering them to pull the book off the shelves because it contravened the country’s Intelligence Service Act.

The book alleges millions of dollars in taxpayers' money flowed into the bank accounts of spies and Zuma's government and details the actions of law-enforcement agencies. It also alleges Zuma failed to submit tax returns for the first five years of his presidency.

The book accuses President Zuma of being on the payroll of a security company for R1 million a month – a salary he allegedly did not declare and which was allegedly not taxed.

It further describes how key people in the regime reportedly worked together to prevent any action being taken that would see charges levelled against Zuma.

Spreading like wildfire

The pirated version of the book spread like wildfire on social media. The print edition also moved quickly off the bookshelves.

The book was released a week ago with an initial print run of 20,000 copies. 

NB publisher Elouise Wessels told TRT World another print run of 40,000 has been ordered to be delivered in batches from early next week. "A book that sells over 10,000 is considered a best seller here," Wessels said.

By Saturday evening, the book was listed as the 8th best selling book on Amazon Kindle.

Apart from the SSA issuing a “cease and desist” letter to the publishers, the country’s tax authority South African Revenue Service (SARS) also issued a statement on Friday saying that it is considering its legal options against Pauw and the country’s largest-circulating Sunday newspaper, the Sunday Times. The Sunday Times had published extracts of the book on October 29.

"SARS wishes to categorically state that it is deeply concerned about the publication of confidential taxpayer information in contravention of Chapter 6 of the Tax Administration Act (TAA) 28 of 2011, especially Section 69 which prohibits the disclosure of taxpayer information by a SARS official or former SARS official," the statement read.

Zuma himself has been silent on the allegations contained in the book.

Wessels said, “We are delighted with how the astounding revelations in the book have been picked up the media and social media. The fact that it has found such resonance with South Africans – especially all the readers who are buying the book – goes to show how deeply concerned the public is with how our country has become a gangster state.”

NB Publishers on Saturday urged people to “do the right thing” and not to download what it says is “a pirated, hacked copy of The President’s Keepers”.

Social media has been alive with comments about the book and Zuma.

The allegations contained in the book have made it into the country's parliament with opposition parties hoping to get answers from Zuma.

Opposition leader Mmusi Maimane sent a question to the speaker of the parliament demanding they be allowed to ask Zuma to answer questions over the allegations that he had received a salary from a security company, called Royal Security.

Zuma was a controversial leader even before he ascended to the presidency. Allegations of corruption have dogged him ever since his financial adviser Schabir Shaik was convicted of corruption in 2005.

Critics accuse Zuma, 75, of allowing corruption to flourish since he came to power in 2009, and of being under the sway of the Gupta business family, allegedly granting them lucrative government contracts.

The president has been admonished by the country's highest court, and is fighting a judicial order that could reinstate almost 800 corruption charges against him over an arms deal in the 1990s.

He also came under fire for improvements to his personal home that cost taxpayers $16 million.

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