Zuma stirs debate on twitter after posting a photo of him while holding rifle

South Africa’s former President Jacob Zuma has caused a stir after tweeting a photo of himself aiming a rifle a day after a court issued a warrant for his arrest.

The Pietermaritzburg High Court issued the warrant on Tuesday after Mr Zuma missed a scheduled court appearance.

His lawyer said he could not attend court as he was ill and presented a sick note – which the prosecution contested, arguing that the date seemed to have been altered.

The warrant, granted by Judge Dhaya Pillay, will only come into effect if the court determines that Mr Zuma gave false evidence about his health or fails to appear in court on 6 May.

The photo Mr Zuma shared, showing him holding a rifle whilst on a quad bike, it is not dated or captioned.

Local media say the photo was taken in Mr Zuma’s rural home of Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal.

Mr Zuma has been charged with a string of crimes including corruption, racketeering and money-laundering. He denies all allegations of wrongdoing.

South Africans online have reacted to the photo on Mr Zuma’s Twitter account.

“But the letter you submitted in court said you too sick to attend court ngapha you hunting, or you hunting sick notes,” wrote Umalambane.

“This picture could have been taken today, yesterday, last year, two years back, three years ago nobody knows.There’s no date, no caption, nothing. Pres Zuma is a great strategist, true military man & intellect who is always one step ahead & knows how to keep the enemy guessing& frustrated,” Theblackprotector tweeted.

“Aren’t you supposed to be on your sick bed in some hospital somewhere in Cuba or Pretoria military? Talk about a troll tweet of the decade,” Zandi Thabethe wrote.