Former president Jacob Zuma has been mentioned in the latest documents relating to the late convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
The records, commonly referred to as the Epstein files, span more than three million pages and were released by the United States Department of Justice on Friday, 23 January.
In it, are emails detailing a dinner allegedly organised by Epstein for Zuma during a visit to London in March 2010.
According to the documents, the dinner took place at the Ritz Hotel and included a Russian model.
The reason for and nature of the meeting is not known.
One email, dated Thursday, 4 March 2010, outlines arrangements for the event. It reads: “I am a friend of Jeffrey Epstein and I have been asked to help arrange a small dinner tomorrow night for President Jacob Zuma of South Africa at the Ritz Hotel at 7:00pm tomorrow evening.”
The email adds that Epstein had suggested inviting a woman to “add some real glamour to the occasion”.
Further correspondence, sent to Epstein on Saturday, 6 March 2010, reflects positively on Zuma’s presence at the dinner.
It states: “We all found Jacob Zuma a much more impressive character than we had expected, he displayed more gravitas and none of the macho bluster he is generally portrayed as having by the tabloid press.”
Another email from the same day references a possible follow-up engagement, reading: “I am also summoned to see Presdt Zuma tomorrow for private meeting. Do we like South Africa ???”
Spokesperson for the Jacob Zuma Foundation and MK Party MP Mzwanele Manyi told News24 that “nothing was untoward about the dinner”.
The broader Epstein files also reference his business interests in South Africa, including the scouting of models, particularly in Cape Town.
READ MORE: Daily Maverick – Revealed: Jacob Zuma’s intimate dinner with Jeffrey Epstein
