Civil society group, Six Degree Shift’s Dr Rama Naidoo says former President Jacob Zuma’s latest application to rescind the Constitutional Court’s order of 15 months imprisonment for contempt of court, can be seen as a landmark judicial process.
Zuma is currently at his Nkandla home and is expected to address his supporters on Sunday.
On Friday, his legal team filed an application with the Constitutional Court to have the order rescinded, to set aside the 15 months imprisonment order, and to set aside the order that Zuma hands himself over to police.
On Tuesday, the Constitutional Court sentenced him to 15 months imprisonment for contempt of court.
Earlier, the Jacob Zuma Foundation said in a statement that on Tuesday the Pietermaritzburg High Court will hear an urgent interdict preventing Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, from arresting Zuma pending his latest applications.
Dr Naidoo says the eyes of the world are now on the country’s judiciary.
“It’s sending the wrong message to citizens and people that somehow we accord to Jacob Zuma a lot more rights than any other normal citizen does and that’s a dangerous precedent. So I think people are watching to see how this is handled. And the threat of lawlessness it’s a notion of creating this idea this illusion that there is this huge mass of people, that the court will be torn into civil war.”
“I think this is the crossroads and we must stand by the rule of law and he must face his term. When a court can indict a former president saying you going to jail, make him face the consequences that means the rule of law is alive and well, and I think that’s a good sign for us. Every citizen is subject to the same law,” He says.
Divisions
Naidoo adds that the current Zuma situation has also brought the so-called divisions within the African National Congress to the forefront.
“I think the ANC is so busy fighting its factions and each camp trying to survive, that they are spending too little time about what the electorate and citizens really want in this country as we are plunged through this pandemic. “
He says, “These camps are what is going to destroy the ANC from within and my forecast would be that before the next elections we will see some serious splits within the party itself because maintaining the illusion of being a single party with all these factions and how they play the power games and the politics is disrupting every part of ordinary people lives and this is no longer acceptable and I think the And will pay the price at the polls if they don’t make some serious decision quite quick.”
‘Triumph for the rule of law’
Professor of Law and the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Management and Law at the University of Limpopo, Omphemetse Sibanda, says Zuma’s sentence is a triumph for the rule of law, but the dissenting judgment will provide ammunition for his supporters.
Below is the full interview with Sibanda:
Supporters
Supporters of former president Jacob Zuma have started marching along the road adjacent to his home at Nkandla in the far northern KwaZulu-Natal. They are singing pro-Zuma songs.
The AmaZulu regiment leader, Maqhawe Mgiliji Nhleko, is also at Nkandla.
A mobile stage has also been set up. It is not clear if there will be any address by those supporting Zuma on Saturday.
Zuma has until midnight Sunday to hand himself over to police to start serving his 15 month jail term as ordered by the Constitutional Court.
VIDEO: Update from outside Zuma’s home:
– Additional reporting by Nonkululeko Hlophe.
