Zuma and Shaik, free as jailbirds

If you google “zuma” and “restaurant” one of the first searches that pops up is “what group owns Zuma?”. 

South Africans might have a few opinions on that, though the answers would vary wildly depending on who you ask and their state of rage at the time.

So to Umhlanga, where former president and medical parolee Jacob Zuma was spotted with former financial adviser and medical parolee Schabir Shaik, enjoying the limelight at the opening of Zuma restaurant.

The entire event might have gone richly unnoticed but for the former president’s daughter Dudu Zuma-Sambudla tweeting “The Media Thought They Would Meet On The Golf Course But They Met At Zuma Restaurant (Now You Know I Had To Give The Haters Chest Pains…)”, followed by further tweets thanking  “the Kitchen Gangster, Allan” for inviting the family to the ribbon cutting.

Zuma, the restaurant, is owned by self-named Kitchen Gangster and Saudi businessman David Manal, and offers “contemporary infusion” drawn from Mediterranean and Asian cuisine. 

Manal said Zuma, the restaurant, is a well-known international chain but that he is the sole owner of “South African Zuma”. He also explained that the restaurant has nothing to do with the former president. Given the guest list, confusion was guaranteed.

Twitter then caught fire as radical economic transformationists batted away the haters steaming at the sight of Zuma and Shaik out on the town now that they are feeling better.

For a man who was paroled 13 years ago on the grounds that he was terminally ill, Shaik certainly looks the picture of rude health.

Meanwhile, Zuma-Sambudla gave the food 10 out of 10, saying: “I’m definitely going back.” 

The Supreme Court of Appeal, ruling that Zuma’s parole was unlawful, agrees that going back is on the cards. Though not to the restaurant.