Zuma speaks to grassroots supporters

South Africa's former president, Jacob Zuma, spoke Thursday to his supporters for the first time since being released on parole in early September.

The former ANC leader was released on medical grounds after serving two months of a 15-month prison sentence for contempt of court.

Jacob Zuma spoke via a video link as no one knows where the 79 year old is serving parole.

In his speech to supporters in Durban the former president lambasted the courts and criticised the graft investigations against him.

"Today we are a state governed by those who know what it is like to be oppressed and denied fundamental human rights.  It is this state that has imprisoned me for contempt of court without trial. Something has gone terribly wrong in our country" lamented the former South African president.

South Africans head to the polls on November 1 to elect local councillors across the country.

Zuma's arrest in July sparked a wave of violence and unrest that resulted in at least 350 deaths.