Chronicle Editor
Durban — Former president Jacob Zuma will attempt on Monday, to shift the country’s legal parameters to another level with his application to the Constitutional Court to rescind its previous order, which found him guilty of contempt and sentenced him to 15 months of imprisonment.
Some of the respondents in the matter believe Zuma’s argument had no legal basis and was just another show of defiance for the rule of law and labelled him a “constitutional delinquent’’.
The order, which ultimately relates to Zuma’s refusal to appear at the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, headed by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, took effect on Wednesday.
Zuma handed himself over to police and was incarcerated at the Estcourt Correctional Facility in KwaZulu-Natal.
In his application, he accused Justice Zondo of abandoning his decision to report him to the police for ditching the commission of inquiry into state capture.
Zuma said the commission failed to inform the Constitutional Court that he has a health condition, which was relevant to his non-appearance before its chairperson Justice Zondo, who had agreed to receive a medical report from his medical team and even meet them.
Had this honourable court been aware of the exact nature and extent of the applicant’s (Zuma’s) medical condition(s), it may have come to a different decision,” read Zuma’s heads of argument.
Zuma said Justice Zondo publicly announced in November last that he would invoke his powers under the Commissions Act to report his alleged conduct as a criminal offence to the SA Police Service.
This was after Zuma walked out of the commission after Justice Zondo ruled against the former president in his bid to have him (Justice Zondo) recuse himself from hearing his evidence. — iol
Online Reporter