Large crowd were spotted in Durban, South Africa’s port city, to pray for ex-president Jacob Zuma and greet his medical parole.
Officially, no one knows where the 79-year-old is spending his two-month parole for contempt of court, which was granted two months into a 15-month prison sentence.
He was freed in early September, but he has not been seen since.
Even on Thursday, he only appeared to his fans via video link, after many had fled due to strong winds tearing through People’s Park near Durban’s beaches.
“Today, I’d like to express my gratitude for your support and prayers,” Zuma said at a foundation event.
“As a prisoner of the democratic state in which the black majority controls the levers of state power, the fact that you have come to support me with prayers means a lot to me.”
Zuma’s rambling, hour-long speech was his first public address since his release.
He lambasted the judiciary for ordering his imprisonment and criticised the graft investigations against him.
But he also urged South Africans to vote for the African National Congress, the party he once led.
Zuma’s supporters had hoped their “Zulu brother” would make an appearance.
“He won’t disappoint us, he won’t as always,” said Khumbulani Ngom, who had travelled from a township outside the city for the event.
But Zuma appeared only on a screen, with the sound drowned out by the wind.
