Zuma said Russia had proved it was worthy of trust by supporting the ANC during the anti-apartheid struggle – by providing education, training, weapons, food and healthcare to ANC comrades in exile. “Russia carried the biggest load in supporting us,” he said.“ Russia looked after our health, they never charged us a penny.“ So we cannot, when we are now free, forget about people who were our friends at the time of need. ”He maintained that Russia would not take harsh action against SA if it defaulted on the repayments for the funding of nuclear power plants. “They would not come for us,” he said.“ They would understand, we would have an agreement to work out another arrangement. “Others will come for us, will force us to go to some financial thing so that they suck our funds forever. “We know they [Russia] are trusted people. “We know they will never sink us, they will lift us.”
