It seems a high-stakes game for Jacob Zuma, but a bigger battle is unfolding with the former president’s appearance at the Zondo commission: one between Zuma and current president Cyril Ramaphosa.

Zuma appeared before the state capture commission of inquiry for the first time on Monday, where he launched into an almost three-hour diatribe about an elaborate plot — going all the way back to 1990 — to "get rid" of him...