'We will kill the Scorpions'
by
2008-09-01 11:01
Johannesburg - A top official of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has warned that the African National Congress will not hesitate to "kill" the Scorpions if they continued to pursue ANC president Jacob Zuma, the Sowetan newspaper reported on Monday.
The news report quoted Cosatu's KwaZulu-Natal secretary general Zet Luzipho as saying: "If the Scorpions bite the wrong people we will kill them. Like a dog when it starts biting relatives at your home. You get rid of it. We will do the same to the Scorpions."
Luzipho's statements followed the protests held throughout Durban on Friday when members of the ANC's eThwkweni region staged protests at 16 police stations throughout Durban to demand that criminal charges against Zuma be dropped.
Zuma faces a charge of racketeering, four charges of corruption, a charge of money laundering and 12 charges of fraud related to a multi-billion rand arms government arms deal.
Zuma was charged in 2005 but that case was struck from the role in 2006. He was re-charged in December 2007.
The two Thint companies - Thint Holding (Southern Africa) Pty Ltd and Thint (Pty) Ltd - are the South African subsidiaries of the French arms manufacturing giant Thales International (formerly Thomson-CFS). Each company faces a charge of racketeering and two counts of corruption.