Judgment reserved in State Capture Commission’s case against Zuma

Judgment in the State Capture Commission’s case against former president Jacob Zuma has been reserved in the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg. The commission wants the highest court in the land to send Zuma to jail for two years for defying its order to appear before the commission

Lawyers representing the State Capture Commission have told the Constitutional Court that a custodial sentence would be an appropriate punishment for former president Jacob Zuma.

The court heard the Commission’s application to have Zuma jailed for failing to abide by the order of the apex court to appear before the Commission.

Advocate Thembeka Ngcukaitobi says their application for Zuma to be jailed is not because he did not appear before the Commission but for defying and discrediting the Constitutional Court as well as attacking judges without facts.

Below is the live stream for Zuma’s ConCourt proceedings:

Meanwhile, the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation says Zuma must be held accountable and justice must be served.

The foundation’s Executive Director Neeshan Balton says Zuma must be treated like any other person.

“We are very happy that the Zondo Commission has taken this case back to the Constitutional Court, given that the former president has defied the initial order from the court. We think that the former president must be held to the highest levels of accountability. We hope that the court will deliberate on this matter and find an appropriate sanction for the behaviour displayed by the former president,” explains Balton.

In November 2020, Zuma walked out of the Commission without the Chairperson’s permission, after failing in his bid to have Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo recuse himself as the Commission’s presiding officer.

 Zuma walks out of Inquiry before he could take the witness stand: