Former president Jacob Zuma says South Africa is sliding back into apartheid-like rule. Addressing the media on Sunday evening, he listed various reasons for his remark, including his 15-month jail sentence handed down by the Constitutional Court.
The former president said he wasn’t seeking to destruct the work of the state capture commission, but all he is asking for is fairness and consistency in the application of the law.
“The fact that I was sentenced without trial should induce shock to all those who cherish the rule of law. The rule of law doesn’t deal harshly with those you may dislike for whatever reason. South Africa is sliding back to apartheid-like rule. I am facing detention without trial. Elsewhere the Secretary-General of the ANC has a banning order, prohibiting him from addressing masses. We have level 4 lockdown and a curfew of the 1980s. The only difference is we only use different levels, like contempt of court instead of detention without trial, but the substance is the same,” he says.
The former president also suggested that the apartheid regime was better than the current dispensation, citing the “persecution” of his children as reason for that perception.
He says Constitutional democracy should mean that no one, not even judges, is above the law; that the Constitution reigns supreme and anything contrary is annulled.
He again denied reports that he has refused to appear the State Capture Inquiry.
He says he only took issue with Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo being there during proceedings.
“That matter is being adjudicated in a court of law and I am still awaiting an outcome from that court. Had Zondo simply recused himself and allowed my submission to be heard by somebody neutral – the people of South Africa could have had all about he unsubstantiated allegations against me. All I am asking is fairness and consistency.”
Zuma addresses the media on the Kamphepe ruling:
Zuma reiterated that he doesn’t fear to go to jail and never operated as an individual.
“I must not be understood to be condoning any acts or conducts that seems to destruct the objectives of the commission. The only point is what I seek to make on how the state capture commission handled the cases of some individuals who refused to appear before the commission,” he says.
He says some of those people are in the private sector and refused to adhere to summons but were never prosecuted. Zuma says a strange procedure was adopted in his case.
“There cannot be that there are Zuma laws in South Africa. Only Jacob Zuma is told that normal procedures are not applicable. Only Jacob Zuma is told that appeal processes are too protracted. Only Jacob Zuma is asked to give mitigation before being found guilty. Only Jacob Zuma name is mentioned that the highest court in the land agrees to be a court of first instance in criminal proceedings.”
He described sending him to jail at the height of a pandemic as the same as sending him to death.
“And the death sentence was abolished in South Africa in 1995 as a result of my contributions and those of others.”
‘Judgment fair and objective’
Zuma has, however, welcomed the Constitutional Court’s decision to hear his application for his 15 months jail sentence to be overturned.
He described it as objective, fair and in line with the provisions of the Constitution, which prohibits detention without trial.
“I must also hasten to acknowledge and appreciate the Constitutional Court for its recent announcement where it indicated that on the 12th of July it will give me audience. I trust that peace-loving people of South Africa will support me until this matter is concluded in a manner that the rule of law and the Constitution will reign supreme,” he said.
He also said the commission shouldn’t be referred as the Zondo Commission as this poses a possible conflict of interest should any of the judge’s relatives be implicated in the alleged abuse of state resources at the commission.
Zuma insists that Zondo is not objective towards him and that there is a conflict of interest there.
Political implication of events at Nkandla:
He thanked the media for ensuring that South Africans get to hear his side of the story over the Khampepe judgment that sentenced him to jail without trial.
He also thanked his supporters for showing resolute support for him, the rule of law and justice.
#sabcnews #sabckzn Former President Jacob Zuma has thanked thousands of his supporters who have descended at his home in Nkandla on the northern KwaZulu-Natal. pic.twitter.com/GLgPM6ktLP
— Nonkululeko Hlophe (@Leko3) July 4, 2021
