Johannesburg — South Africa’s top court heard an appeal on Friday to have former president Jacob Zuma declared ineligible to stand for parliament, a politically charged legal showdown ahead of the tightest election in decades.
Zuma, 82, is fronting uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), a new opposition party that has become a potential disrupter in the May 29 general ballot.
But electoral authorities have argued the graft-tainted politician should be barred from the race because of a 2021 contempt of court conviction.
The Constitutional Court in Johannesburg was called to decide on the matter after a lower court sided with Zuma in April.
Defend our Democracy’s Rev. Moss Ntlha commends the IEC for approaching the #Concourt against the Electoral Court’s ruling allowing MK party leader Jacob Zuma to contest the upcoming elections. “The IEC did well by seeking clarity constitutionally”.https://t.co/PWOVqtySWm pic.twitter.com/ofXpHMOKlE
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) May 10, 2024
Coming only weeks before what is expected to be the most competitive vote since the end of apartheid and the advent of democracy in 1994, the case has made some observers nervous.
Zuma’s jailing in 2021 triggered a wave of unrest, riots and looting that left more than 350 people dead.
There are fears of a repeat.
“Zuma’s supporters have threatened violence again this year should things not go their way,” said Zakhele Ndlovu, a politics lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Supporters outside court
A few dozen MK activists, wearing the party’s green and black colours, chanted and danced outside the court in a show of support for Zuma.
Some held signs reading “Vote MK party”.
Inside, wearing a blue suit and tie, the bespectacled Zuma sat behind his lawyers.
At the end of a hearing that lasted more than 10 hours, the court reserved judgment and adjourned.
Legal experts said it might take a few days to reach a final ruling.
A preliminary request by Zuma’s legal team that six judges recuse themselves as “tainted by bias” was dismissed by the court.
Many in the former president’s camp see the Constitutional Court as partisan.
It is the same court that in 2021 sentenced Zuma to 15 months in prison after he refused to testify to a panel investigating financial corruption and cronyism during his presidency.
The head of that panel is now the court’s chief justice.
‘Clarity’ needed
The case revolves around the interpretation of a constitutional norm barring anyone sentenced to more than 12 months’ imprisonment from serving in parliament.
The electoral commission (IEC) argued the provision applies to Zuma.
Representing the IEC on Friday, lawyer Tembeka Ngcukaitobi said there was no doubt the ex-president committed a crime that made him ineligible. “He is disqualified by the Constitution,” he said.
In the lower court, the political veteran’s lawyers have successfully contended that the contrary is true, for Zuma’s sentence did not allow for an appeal and was shortened by a remission.
[WATCH] Adv. Tembeka Ngcukaitobi says the Constitutional Court should treat the IEC application with urgency and make a ruling on Jacob Zuma’s eligibility before the elections, otherwise it (IEC) won’t have any interest in the matter after the elections.#Newzroom405 pic.twitter.com/OR3rrJ1bcs
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) May 10, 2024
Zuma’s lawyer Dali Mpofu on Friday quoted from a dictionary defining a remission as “the cancellation of a part of the sentence”.
Zuma was freed on medical parole just two months into his term.
His new party came out of nowhere to become one of the main contenders in the election.
Banking on Zuma’s popularity, MK is expected to cut into the vote share of the embattled ruling African National Congress (ANC) – the ex-president’s former political home.
This could push the ANC towards a return of below 50 percent for the first time in a national vote.
Short of a parliamentary majority, it would be forced to seek coalition partners to remain in power.
The ANC is struggling in opinion polls in the context of a weak economy and allegations of corruption and mismanagement.
An Ipsos poll last month credited it with 40.2 percent, the liberal Democratic Alliance on 21.9 percent and the leftist Economic Freedom Fighters 11.5 percent. MK followed on 8.4 percent.
Announcing the appeal last month, the IEC said it did not intend to “involve itself in the political field of play” but sought “clarity” to “ensure free and fair elections”.
South Africans are called to elect a new parliament, which then appoints the president.
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Source: AFP
Picture: X/@ISephara
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