The Jacob Zuma Foundation and the family of the former president say they are delighted that he has been granted leave to make his submissions on why he believes his sentence should be rescinded.
The Constitutional Court has set down the matter to be heard on July 12. It has given opposing parties until Tuesday, July 6, to file their papers.
The spokesperson for the JG Zuma Foundation, Mzwanele Manyi, says the ConCourt’s decision shows that the law in South Africa favours all who live in the country. He says this comes as a shame to all those who were predicting that Zuma will be in jail from Sunday.
Manyi says even though temporal, this decision is a relief to former president Zuma as he won’t have to hand himself over to the authorities to begin serving his 15-month jail term on Sunday.
“President Zuma and his family are very delighted by this temporal relief, this signals the adherence to rule of law, this signals the kind of justice system that a lot of people have lost their lives for – when somebody is saying please hear me out, please give me an opportunity to state my case and then we have court that say OK, we are willing to listen to you, that’s the kind of justice system people died for in this country,” the Zuma Foundation spokesperson says.
Manyi elaborates on his views in the video below:
Legal expert, Ulrich Roux, has described the Constitutional Court’s decision to allow Zuma to apply for the rescission of his sentence as surprising. Roux says the Constitutional Court appears now to be doubting its own judgment.
“The entire legal fraternity is surprised at this decision by the ConCourt – this effectively mean that the Constitutional Court is now doubting its own judgment, which it deliberated over for a period of three months. And alternatively delivered a detailed concise judgement addressing all the legal avenues,” adds Roux.
Constitutional Law Expert, Paul Hoffman, says he does not hold out much hope for the success of former president Jacob Zuma’s application to have his contempt of court sentence rescinded.
He describes Zuma’s move as just a stunt:
Zuma has been sentenced to 15 months in jail for defying a Constitutional Court order that he continues testifying at the State Capture Inquiry.
He has announced that he will address his supporters at six pm on Sunday evening. The former president will not speak in Durban – but has decided to speak to his supporters from his Nkandla homestead.
