EXTRACT:
Behind the scenes, what's really happening is much more fascinating. Zuma isn't going to push away the supporters he does have but he knows they can't really help him. He knows that whatever evidence is led against him when his case begins in earnest later this year, or whatever the judgment, he has more powerful forces watching him.
I was going to write that as "watching over him" but that would be to overstate things. Nonetheless, it seems clear that President Cyril Ramaphosa keeps in close touch with Zuma and consults him and tells him what he's doing. This has nothing to do with Zuma's coming trial, which Ramaphosa would not and could not prevent taking place.
But it has everything to do with Ramaphosa's position in the ANC and the supposed divide between the Zuma faction and Ramaphosa's.