Zuma says the country's laws went from extremely oppressive during apartheid, to being extremely cautious, to protect the rights of the accused and this is why he says social cohesion is not possible in South Africa.

His comments come ahead of his appearance in court on Tuesday on charges of corruption and after he said he'd rather go to jail than cooperate with the state capture inquiry, which is hearing evidence of alleged corruption during his presidency.

Zuma was addressing the Umrabulo Round Table hosted by the ANC political school on Sunday.

eNCA