Political analyst Professor Dirk Kotzé says the pardon granted to former President Jacob Zuma in August last year could be the argument used by his lawyers to challenge the Electoral Commission’s (IEC) decision to bar him from contesting next month’s elections.
The Electoral Court will on Monday hear Zuma’s appeal after the IEC upheld an objection against the former President’s candidature.
Zuma was ranked number one on the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party’s candidate list.
Zuma was found in contempt of court in the Constitutional Court in 2021 and sentenced to 15 months.
Kotzé explains. “President Zuma was sentenced to 15 months and he has concluded that less than five years since now. So from that same point of view, he was disqualified. But now there are arguments that say that President Ramaphosa announced a general release of prisoners in general at the same time as he pardoned people who were on parole. Any form of parole, that they will be able to conclude their sentence immediately. And on the basis of that, he enjoys a form of presidential immunity or presidential pardon; and for that reason, this determination by the Constitution does not apply to him anymore.”
