Johannesburg: South Africa's graft-accused ex-president Jacob Zuma said on Monday he had been "vilified", as he testified at a judicial inquiry into the alleged looting of state funds while he was in power.
"I have been vilified, alleged to be the king of corrupt people," he told the inquiry. "I have been given every other name and I have never responded to those issues. I believe it is important that we respect one another."
Zuma had struck a characteristically relaxed tone ahead of his televised appearance, which could last for five days, tweeting a video on Sunday of himself dancing and singing "Zuma must fall" before laughing heartily.
The former president is accused of fostering a culture of corruption during a nine-year reign before he was ousted in 2018 by the ruling ANC party and replaced by Cyril Ramaphosa.
Zuma, 77, was not legally required to appear at the inquiry into the so-called "State Capture" scandal. State capture describes a form of corruption in which businesses and politicians conspired to influence policies to advance their own interests.
He denies all wrongdoing and dismissed the concept of "state capture", while his lawyers have described the inquiry as an attempt to "ambush and humiliate" him. Zuma, who addressed the commission at the start of the day, said that he had been the victim of "character assassination over 20 years."
