He said they joined the Zuma supporters while on their return from submitting a memorandum at Prasa to highlight issues including that they arrive late at school because of their trains.

"What we want to say as young people is what Zuma told us, that education comes first. So today those kids did not bunk school because of president Zuma," Magafane said.

But he said that Cosas believed Zuma deserved their support because he cared about education. "Remember, Cosas believed in president Zuma and president Zuma believed in them. He addressed their issues based on the constitution of the ANC that free education must be implemented, he did that."

Magafane said they were supporting Zuma as he was being projected negatively, "since he had been in exile, by spies and white monopoly capital".

Former North West premier and a Zuma loyalist, Supra Mahumapelo, said there were people who sought to destroy Zuma's legacy. He said various achievements by Zuma including ensuring access to ARVs to people living with HIV/Aids were downplayed.

"As we speak today, life expectancy in South Africa has gone up. Even when you go into the manifesto of the ANC, you will see that one of the reasons people voted for the ANC is because under his leadership life expectancy went up.

". these facts that I'm talking about, please say so tomorrow that I'm not talking the truth because that is the truth and there is no truth that is more than that truth. That under Msholozi, South Africa became better than it was ever before. You may not like it, you may hate him for your reasons but when truth is supposed to be told please tell the truth," said Mahumapelo.