- The US Justice Department released three million pages of documents about Jeffrey Epstein on 23 January showing the dinner invitation.
- Jacob Zuma was president for 10 months when he met Epstein at the Ritz Hotel during a UK state visit.
The US Justice Department released three million pages of documents about dead child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on 23 January.
News24 saw emails showing Jacob Zuma had dinner with Epstein and a Russian model at the Ritz Hotel in London in March 2010.
Zuma had been president for about 10 months at the time. He was in London after Queen Elizabeth II invited him on a three-day state visit to the UK.
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A man named Mark Lloyd, who called himself a friend of Epstein, arranged the dinner.
Lloyd sent an email to a woman named Vera inviting her to join them. "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," he wrote.
He said Epstein suggested inviting her because she would "add some real glamour to the occasion".
The model accepted the invitation. She told Lloyd she was from Russia and had lived in London for the past two years. She worked for Select model agency and had been modelling for six years in Paris, New York, Barcelona and Japan.
She asked if it would be a black tie event or if a sleeveless cocktail dress would be okay.
The day after the dinner, Lloyd wrote to Epstein praising the model. "She is that rare combination of elegance, charm and natural beauty and what is more, she is smart with it! She made a very positive impression on all those who met her," he said.
Lloyd also wrote about Zuma. "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," he said.
The Jacob Zuma Foundation did not deny the meeting happened. But spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi said reports about it were trying to smear Zuma, who is now MK Party president.
Manyi said Zuma was not accused of any unlawful or improper conduct.
