Prison warder who cared for Zuma lands top MK job

By Sihle Mavuso

The warder who appears in the widely circulated pictures of former president Jacob Zuma when he was booked into Estcourt prison in KwaZulu-Natal has secured a top job in the Umkhonto Wesizwe (MK) party.

Yesterday, Nombuso Mkhize was named the party’s newest deputy secretary-general at an MK party press conference in Johannesburg.

That was when the party announced its new national leadership, called the high command, to be headed by Zuma.

Mkhize, who hails from KwaZulu-Natal, is a former Department of Correctional Services employee in Estcourt.

She held a senior position during her tenure at the prison and was tasked with handling Zuma’s high-profile incarceration.

“She was very kind to Zuma, treating him like a family man instead of a hardened criminal. That led to Zuma respecting her as well,” a source in the MK Party told Scrolla.Africa.

Senior leaders in the party say Mkhize treated Zuma “with utmost respect”, and they developed a close relationship.

Mkhize later left the department, and when Zuma announced the formation of the MK Party, she joined it.

Zuma, 82, was sentenced to 15 months in jail in July 2021 for defying a Constitutional Court order to appear at the Zondo commission inquiry into state capture.

His imprisonment triggered violent protests in which over 300 people were killed.

He spent only two months in prison and was saved from serving further time when President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a remission of sentences for non-violent offenders. 

Mkhize did not respond to Scrolla.Africa’s request for comment.

MK Party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela had yet to respond to our request for comment on Mkhize’s appointment at the time of publication.

Pictured above: Nombuso Mkhize in MK party regalia, and while helping Zuma in prison.

Source: X and DCS