S.African writer Deon Meyer targets Zuma in latest book

"I have survived several attempts to kill me," former South African president Jacob Zuma had claimed in one of many his rants against the corruption allegations which forced him to resign in 2018.

His words drew little sympathy and inspired bestselling thriller novelist Deon Meyer to hit out at the scandal-plagued former president and other corruption-tainted officials in his last book.

Published in 2018, "The Last Hunt" follows detectives Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido as they investigate the disappearance of an ex-member of South Africa's elite police unit.

They enter the treacherous world of high-level government corruption and uncover a conspiracy against the president, who is modelled on Zuma.

Zuma is accused of orchestrating a systematic plunder of government coffers during his nine-year administration -- a scandal known as "state capture".

He is also suspected of taking kickbacks from a multi-million-dollar arms deal during the late 1990s, for which he has been criminally charged.

An arrest warrant was issued Tuesday after Zuma skipped pre-trial court attendance on grounds of ill-health.

"I have written this book because I was very angry," Meyer said during an interview in the picturesque southwestern town of Stellenbosch, where he lives.

"We have been through so much in this country... to see Zuma messing up the whole process made me very angry (and) I wanted to write about that," he told AFP.

"This guy (Zuma) is so bad, so corrupt, he is doing so much damage, surely there must be someone out there who thinks one solution would be to get rid of him." - 'State capture'
"I write about policewomen and men who do their jobs, that are hard working, that are not corrupt."