Constitutional Law expert Prof Pierre de Vos has highlighted possible outcomes of former president Jacob Zuma’s case in the Constitutional Court on Thursday.
De Vos says, “The court might impose a suspended sentence and explain that you will go to prison unless in the next three weeks you go and testify before the State Capture Commission, that’s one option. Another option is just incarceration or he can have a fine and additional suspended prison sentence. So, I think some of the arguments will be about what is the best and most appropriate punishment in this particular case.”
The Commission of Inquiry into State Capture is heading to the court to seek an order for Zuma to be arrested. Zuma is adamant that he will not appear before the commission, accusing its chairperson Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo of bias.
Earlier, Zuma ignored a Constitutional Court judgment compelling him to appear before the commission.
The commission applied to the court to have Zuma jailed for two years.
Professor Pierre de Vos, a constitutional law expert, shares more on the case:
The running battles between Zondo and Zuma have been raging on for some time and after a number of attempts to have Zuma appear before the commission failed and with the Constitutional Court order not even serving as a deterrent, Zondo was left with no option but to apply to have Zuma held in contempt of court.
Zondo seems unrelenting in his action against Zuma for not respecting the commission and the highest court in the land.
“The commission will make an application to the ConCourt which is the court that made the order that Mr Zuma has defied and seek an order that Mr Zuma is incompetent of court. Then if the court reaches that conclusion it can impose a term of imprisonment on Mr Zuma or impose a fine. The commission will approach the ConCourt to impose a term of imprisonment if he is found guilty but it will be up to the court to find what is appropriate,” Zondo said.
Reaction to Zondo’s application to get Zuma arrested:
