Former SA President linked to Epstein

Included in the latest disclosures from the US Justice Department are emails relating to an intimate dinner organised by the late sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein for former South African President Jacob Zuma in London in 2010. Zuma undertook a three-day state visit to the UK in March 2010, at the invitation of Queen Elizabeth II. Zuma’s last official engagement was on the afternoon of 5 March, which was a meeting with NGOs working in SA at Pretoria’s diplomatic hub in London, SA House. But the latest tranche of documents published by the US Department of Justice related to Epstein has cast new light on what Zuma did on his final evening in London. It appears he had an intimate dinner with the paedophile and a Russian model. The Daily Maverick reports that the first email in the Epstein Files relating to the Zuma dinner sent on 4 March 2010, to an unknown recipient: ‘Dear Vera, I am a friend of Jeffrey Epstein and I have been asked to help arrange a small dinner tomorrow night for President Jacob Zuma of SA at the Ritz Hotel at 7pm tomorrow evening. Jeffrey suggested that I invite you, as you would be certain to add some real glamour to the occasion. A friend of Jeffreys is a friend of mine, so I have no hesitation inviting you to join us. If you are not put off by the extremely short notice and would be able to accept, can you let me have a little more information about yourself as well as your full name ( as I have to present the President with a summary of the guests in advance).’ It is signed Mark Lloyd. The exact identity of Mark Lloyd has not been confirmed, but a Reddit post claims a man of the same name recurs throughout the Epstein Files, and publishes a photo allegedly of Lloyd with Epstein at Disneyland

While not denying that the meeting took place, the Jacob Zuma Foundation said the reports about the meeting were an attempt to smear their patron, who also serves as the Mkhonto Party (MKP) president. News24 reports that foundation spokesperson and MKP MP Mzwanele Manyi slammed the Daily Maverick, saying ‘the so-called revelation … is a textbook example of agenda-driven journalism built on innuendo, third-party emails and prospective guilt by association.’ At no point does the article even allege, let alone establish any unlawful or improper conduct by his excellency President Zuma. The attempt to smear President Zuma by proximity to the unrelated crimes of a third party is unethical, irresponsible and intellectually dishonest.’