Wife breaks silence on alleged Zuma poisoning

The saga of the alleged attempted poisoning of President Jacob Zuma took a new turn at the weekend when his estranged wife Nompumelelo Ntuli-Zuma broke her silence on the matter, saying State Security Minister David Mahlobo kicked her out of the family’s Nkandla homestead and ordered her to take her three children with her. Speaking to the Sunday Times through her lawyers, MaNtuli said Mahlobo told her she could not be at the homestead because of ‘a sensitive matter’ his Intelligence Department was investigating. The Minister was apparently referring to an alleged plot to poison the President. MaNtuli denies any involvement in the alleged plot. MaNtuli also revealed that her husband had never confronted her about the allegations. BDK Attorneys’ director and MaNtuli’s lawyer, Ulrich Roux, is quoted as saying Mahlobo had told MaNtuli that ‘his office would keep her updated as to the progress of the alleged investigation and that she would be informed as to what, if anything, was required from her’. ‘To date,’ said Roux, ‘Mahlobo has had no meeting with Ntuli-Zuma.’ The police took over the matter in June and asked MaNtuli ‘to answer a number of questions pertaining to the alleged investigation into a so-called plot to kill her husband’. Roux is quoted in the report as saying: ‘(MaNtuli) has answered the questions as requested from her and has given her full co-operation pertaining to the alleged investigation into this matter.’ The report says it has transpired that the probe into the alleged plot to poison Zuma is being spearheaded by Mahlobo’s department, working with the Hawks.