Jacob Zuma

“There is no cloud above my head - there is not even a mist.”

“I fear no motion of no confidence or impeachment, for they are the lawful mechanisms for the people of this beautiful country to remove their president.”

“You don't just end up with freedom when you have the vote. The struggle continues.”

“I don't think, in a country, you can have people thinking and feeling exactly the same.”

“As a citizen of this country, I've got to be honest to the people of South Africa.”

“Africa suffered under European dominance for centuries.”

“Criminality is always the result of poverty. Countries that experience such a fundamental change as we have - we had the apartheid regime and must now develop a multicultural democracy - must necessarily pass through a phase of high crime rates.”

“If you grow the economy, then you become stronger, and you can resist many other things.”

“I have fought corruption.”

“Judgments that give an impression that we can disregard the Constitution for political expediency, or to solve what we regard as current problems, set a dangerous precedence which will make it difficult to govern in future or to make ordinary citizens to abide by the Constitution.”

“The youth of the ANC, ever since 1944 when it was established, has been very vocal. It has made suggestions on things so that, at times, old people said, 'What are you doing?' That is its nature. Alliance partners, they have always raised issues. In fact, that is what brings vibrancy in the alliance. People misread that as huge fights.”

“My love of South Africa is not gray; it's not vague. It's very specific. It's in keeping with our Constitution - 'Unity in diversity.'”

“We are a constitutional democracy. We must deal with things properly within the framework of the law and then the constitution.”

“When I joined the ANC, I never thought I would be anything. In no way, did I say, 'One day I could be the president. I think I am good material for the presidency.' Not at all.”

“I am forever indebted to the ANC, the liberation movement I have served almost all my life.”

“My view is instead of political discussions, persuasions, which dominate democracy, in our country we have taken our democracy to the other extreme. There is no debate, sufficient debate. There is court debate.”

“The economy in South Africa was racially structured for many decades, if not centuries.”

“Theft and corruption in the private sector is as bad as that in government and must be dealt with decisively by law enforcement agencies.”

“Our people are frustrated when we spend more time fighting among ourselves than focusing on solving the day-to-day challenges they experience.”

“None of us, no matter how perfect, can claim that the building of a new society and the marshalling of a former liberation movement into a modern political party all happen in a straight line.”