The Zuma family in Nkandla in northern KwaZulu-Natal has vowed that former president Jacob Zuma is not going to jail.
Constitutional Court hands down Zuma’s 15-month jail term:
Zuma’s family members are fuming about the Constitutional Court sending him to prison. The former president’s brother Khanya Zuma says some leaders refused to testify before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and they were never taken to court.
“If those judges who have sentenced my brother say there is no one above the law, [PW] Botha who is lying in his grave was above the law, he refused to go to the TRC. Before they arrest my brother they need to go after [FW] De Klerk, he was also called to the TRC and he refused, he is alive. Why are they not bothering him? If there is no one above the law, to my view De Klerk was above the law by refusing to go to the TRC, my brother Gedleyihlekisa is not going to jail, they need to arrest others as well.”
Brother of the former president on the jail sentence:
Zuma’s son Edward told SABC News that his father has been in Johannesburg since the Constitutional Court judgment, consulting with his legal team.
MKMVA stands by Zuma:
MKMVA members at Zuma’s home stopped a police vehicle from entering the premises. They asked the officer from the local police station what the purpose of his visit was.
The police vehicle left.
The MKMVA’s Mfanafuthi Gumede says they believe Zuma’s rights have been violated.
“The president’s rights have been violated as a senior citizen he should not be going through all this. We hold the view that being stationed here in Nkandla and we are at the right place to protect the [former] president while the land struggle is continuing. They feel that [former] president Zuma’s persecution is because he is one pushing that the land should be returned to its rightful owners. They want to stop the land issue being openly discussed.”
Meanwhile, the chairperson of the Radical Economic Transformation Forces, Nkosentsha Shezi believes the Constitutional Court had allowed itself to be dragged into the political arena.
“The Constitutional Court is being dragged into a political arena. The judgment that has been handed down emanates from [former] president Jacob Zuma’s ascension of his own rights not to subject himself in a Kangaroo kind of a commission. So [former] president Jacob Zuma had to make a stand that he did. One would have hoped for a Constitutional Court to find in itself to protect [former] president Jacob Zuma’s rights rather than being dragged into a political arena because this commission has been nothing short of a weapon against political opponents. ”
The Department of Correctional Services says they will not play to the public gallery and make any statements regarding Zuma’s incarceration.
The department said they will wait for the police to bring Zuma to them, as is the case with any other sentenced person.
The department would not be drawn on which of their facilities either near Nkandla or in Johannesburg are expected to receive Zuma.
The court gave Zuma five days to hand himself over. However, should he fail to do so, Police Minister Bheki Cele and National Police Commissioner Khehla Sitole have been ordered to have Zuma arrested.
