Hidden among the latest disclosures from the US Justice Department are emails relating to an intimate dinner organised by the late sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein for Jacob Zuma in London in 2010. Erstwhile President Jacob Zuma undertook a three-day state visit to the United Kingdom from 3 March to 5 March 2010, at the invitation of Queen Elizabeth II. It was the first state visit Zuma had undertaken to the UK since becoming president.
Zuma chose wife Tobeka Madiba Zuma to accompany him. An account from the British Royal Household at the timelaid out the agendafor Zuma’s trip. Zuma and his wife stayed at Buckingham Palace for two nights and had banquets on both nights.
Zuma’s last official engagement was on the afternoon of 5 March, which was a meeting with NGOs working in South Africa at Pretoria’s diplomatic hub in London, South Africa House. But thelatest tranche of documentspublished by the US Department of Justice related to deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which run to 3 million pages and were released on Friday 23 January, has cast new light on what Zuma did on his final evening in London. Seemingly, the sitting President of South Africa had an intimate dinner with Epstein – and a Russian model.
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Zuma’s MK party spokesperson did not respond to Daily Maverick’s request for comment on Saturday, but comments will be added if received after publication. Many email senders and recipients have been redacted from the record. The grammar in the emails below is as it appears in the record.
The first email in the Epstein Files relating to the Zuma dinner reads as follows, sent on Thursday, 4 March 2010, to an unknown recipient: 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. Jeffrey suggested that I invite you, as you would be certain to add some real glamour to the occasion. A friend of Jeffreys is a friend of mine, so I have no hesitation inviting you to join us.
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