Zuma's secret pitch to Morocco: security and land

FORMER president Jacob Zuma’s recent visit to Morocco has ignited a political firestorm in Pretoria, but newly leaked documents reveal that his mission went far beyond diplomacy.

- SIFISO MAHLANGU, [e-mail]

In private meetings with Moroccan officials, Zuma made a bold and controversial request for strategic and financial backing to support new education, intelligence, and security initiatives in South Africa.

According to documents now circulating among diplomatic insiders, Zuma appealed to the Moroccan government for help building two advanced education institutions: one in Pretoria and another in his rural hometown of Nkandla.

These schools, he said, would focus on mathematics, science, coding, information technology, and artificial intelligence — skills he believes are essential for the future of South Africa's youth, particularly those left behind by decades of government failure.

But Zuma’s vision extended beyond classrooms. He also requested support for establishing a college of military intelligence and combat training, based in Pretoria but privately run.

This proposed institution, according to the leaked notes, would serve as a training hub for defensive operations in response to what Zuma described as increasing threats to South African citizens.