Jacob Zuma’s son, Duduzane, says South Africans should be grateful to his father for his contributions to the country.

Speaking at a Biznews conference recently, Duduzane said his father has helped the country to avoid “revolts.”

“A lot of people look to him for guidance, for leadership as a statesman, as an elder in the community. Now, what he has done is, as someone who has created opportunities for the black majority in this country, he has held people back and said, ‘ We will get through this.

“He has spoken them through it; he has guided them through it.

“He is here to do it once again, and we should hope that he will be here for a much longer time,” he said.

Duduzane was appointed as his father’s first deputy president at a press conference several days ago. At the conference, he pointed out the criticism that the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) has received over the involvement of his relatives in the party.

“I am here to do my job, that’s it. I am here to create exactly what you think, to create a better country. I am here to move the country forward. I am here to make sure that everyone’s rights are respected and that everyone has fair opportunity.”

Despite the MK Party being criticised for lacking proper political structures, Duduzane said his father’s party has some interesting policies. He said all his party is asking is for those who are in charge of the wealth of the country to “meet” the victims of apartheid halfway and transform the economic landscape of the country.

Duduzane said he believes his father’s party is well-positioned to take over a number of municipalities in the upcoming local government elections. He also said the party will grow in preparation for the 2029 general elections.

Recently, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula criticised Jacob Zuma for his involvement in state capture and the mass looting of state resources during his time as head of state.

This comes after Zuma went to India to visit one of the Gupta brothers despite these brothers being identified as fugitives in South Africa. Some in the ANC have even described Zuma’s presidency as “nine wasted years.”

“We are sitting here, we had the Zondo Commission, himself he ran away at lunchtime…and there were riots in this country that cost lives, that hammered our economy,” he said.

Political analyst Ntsikelelo Breakfast told The Citizen recently that Duduzane will have to understand the political landscape if he intends to take over his father’s political party one day.

“Politics is different cattle of fish to understand politics. It takes a great deal of time. It takes assimilation or internalisation of class consciousness. I have never heard him articulating a particular view coherently,” he said.