Courts must not allow Zuma to mock our Constitution

4 July 2021

ActionSA calls on the judiciary to ignore all attempts by former President, Jacob Zuma, to further obstruct the rule of law by delaying the execution of the Constitutional Court’s order against him. 

This past Tuesday, the Constitutional Court sentenced Zuma to 15 months of direct imprisonment after finding him guilty of contempt of court. Zuma, and his legal team, have since launched two further applications to delay the execution of the order. The first is a rescission application to the Constitutional Court to rescind or vary Tuesday’s ruling, and the second is an application to suspend the warrant for his arrest in the Pietermaritzburg High Court. The jurisdiction of the High Court in the latter application is questionable. 

Our judiciary must retain our citizens’ faith in it by dismissing both frivolous applications.

It is evident that Zuma, through vexatious litigation, is determined to further mock the Constitutional Court. To grant Zuma any further indulgence is to give him and his legal team room to flagrantly threaten the sanctity of our Constitution, the rule of law and the judiciary. 

South Africans want to see justice done; Zuma must be placed behind bars.

It is now up to the judiciary to protect the rule of law in South Africa by acting independently and ensuring its judgments are enforced. This is of central importance to preserving our hard-won democracy.

Issued by Herman Mashaba, ActionSA President, 4 July 2021