EXTRACT
The messianic church leaders were all present at the High Court in Durban in April when Zuma made his first appearance on corruption charges.
The churches recently held two mass meetings in Durban, one for women and the other for traditional leaders, to continue consultations for the new party. Zuma attended both.
In the past few days, another group of KwaZulu-Natal activists announced to the media that they were lobbying support for a new party under the banner "Mazibuyele Emasisweni". They claim to have support from taxi operators and business people, as well as church groups. Some of the leaders of the messianic churches were taken aback by the announcement as they wanted to stay under the radar, mobilising support in their congregations.