Former president Jacob Zuma was the “worst thing South Africa has ever experienced,” general secretary of the South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU), Zwelinzima Vavi, said.
“In my view, Jacob Zuma was the worst thing that this country has ever experienced and I’m not saying this because of the expectations we had about what he was going to do for the working class in South Africa,” he said.
Vavi was speaking during an interview on the EFF Podcast on Thursday.
The veteran trade union leader said Zuma was the worst thing the country has ever experienced.
In response, MK Party National spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela defended Zuma, labeling Vavi as “irrelevant” and accusing him of using the former president’s name to maintain his own relevance.
“Vavi is an irrelevant trying to be relevant using President Zuma’s name,” Ndhlela told .
During his tenure as president of the country, Zuma faced widespread allegations of corruption, state capture, and mismanagement, leading to a loss of public trust and his eventual resignation in 2018.
However, Zuma has consistently denied any wrongdoing and maintained that the allegations were politically motivated.
In 2021, he was also arrested for defying a Constitutional Court order to appear before the Zondo Commission, which investigated corruption and state capture during his presidency.
WATCH: Zwelinizima Vavi on former President Jacob Zuma and his presidency. pic.twitter.com/Yt0F0Sc7wa
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) May 24, 2025
Vavi has previously said that supporting Zuma’s rise to the presidency in 2007 was one of the biggest mistakes of his political career.
“We worked hard against all odds, and the working class was not mistaken they were very firm that this was our messiah. We’re closing the chapter of GEAR, we’re closing the chapter of inequality, unemployment,” he said.
“Immediately after he was elected, he took a trip to London and he had dinner with multibillionaires and he told them nothing was going to change under his leadership. He was going to pursue exactly the same economic programmes that Thabo Mbeki and the [African National Congress] ANC had implemented.”
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