Former South African president Jacob Zuma, who resigned in February of this year after a controversial tenure, has recently joined Twitter. He tweeted a video of himself for the first time last night speaking about how he was thrilled to join an important space for conversation.

Clad in a Mandela-esque floral silk shirt, and charismatic as always, Zuma tweeted his first official video on Twitter late last night. In the video, he says:

"I've decided to move with the times and join this important area of conversation because I hear that many are talking about me as well as others calling themselves Zuma. I have felt it necessary to join in and be part of the conversation."

South Africans have welcomed him warmly (respectfully even) and with tremendous excitement. Within the first 15 minutes of Zuma having joined Twitter, he already had about 1000 followers although he is yet to follow anyone himself. He is currently sitting at 12.1k followers with two tweets.

Zuma's second tweet however, was a prompt response to a Twitter follower who had posted fake bank details claiming they were Zuma's and urging the public to raise funds for him in light of the High Court's recent decision that he should foot the bill for his own legal fees and pay back the millions of rands worth in legal fees the state had already incurred.

The news of Zuma's debut on Twitter is trending under "ubaba" which is an isiZulu reference to "father," and has been used many times to address the former president. Even the EFF leader Julius Malema took to welcoming Zuma onto the platform.