LETTER TO THE EDITOR | Jacob Zuma has kept the South African judiciary on its toes
Will he go to jail or not? This is the question that preoccupies most South Africans as the Constitutional Court handed a 15-month prison sentence to former president Jacob Zuma for contempt of court following his defiance of the Zondo Commission by refusing to appear and answer questions before it.
After almost two decades of playing hide-and-seek with the judiciary, it would seem the law has finally caught up with Zuma as it has left him with no further room to manoeuvre. This judgment will go a long way in reaffirming the supremacy of the Constitution and the principle of equality before the law. It is also an indictment of the country that it had to take the apex court to bring to censure a former president who is supposed to be the embodiment and custodian of the values that our Constitution espouses.
By choosing to be a serial constitutional delinquent, Zuma with the ANC’s propping up, has brought much harm to the constitutional order and the rule of law. While welcoming the judgment, GOOD secretary-general Brett Herron also cautioned against celebrating it in stating that “it is a sad day for our constitutional democracy that a citizen of the country who had the privilege to serve as its president, the highest office of this land and who swore allegiance to its Constitution, scandalised our courts and defied a court order to such an extent that the Constitutional Court was forced to undertake the ‘impossible task’ of sitting in judgment of his conduct”.
By sentencing Zuma to direct imprisonment, the Constitutional Court found itself in an invidious position of having to hand down judgment and sentence without the formalities of a trial. This was due to admittedly being handed a hospital pass by the Zondo Commission through its inexplicable deference to the former president. To protect its judicial integrity, a custodial sentence had to be handed to a brazen offender such as Jacob Zuma.
What is likely to happen is that President Cyril Ramaphosa will grant Zuma a presidential pardon supposedly on the basis of advanced age. The other latent reason for this would be to preserve the so-called unity of the ANC and avoid the implosion which the imprisonment of Zuma might trigger.
The country might also face instability should the Zuma faction of the ANC decide to go berserk on the ruling. A Zuma pardon would also be in line with the precedent set when the late Winnie Mandela was handed a suspended sentence following her conviction on a fraud charge some years ago.
The other likelihood is that Zuma might ultimately wear orange overalls, but not for long. In this instance, he would be following in the footsteps of Schabir Shaik and Tony Yengeni who both served only a fraction of their sentences and were released on legally spurious grounds.
It is debatable whether Jacob Zuma will serve any prison time or not. In the end, this conviction and sentence might only be symbolic, but will serve to consummate his shameful legacy whilst being egged on by the ANC.
– Nathaniel Lee lives in Klipspruit, Soweto.
News 24
