Former president Jacob Zuma was sentenced to jail for his continued defiance against a Constitutional Court ruling that forced him back to testify at the State Capture Inquiry.
Jacob Zuma found guilty: How many years will he spend in jail?
On Tuesday, Justice Sisi Khampepe presided over matters at the apex court, where Zuma’s fate as a free man was in the balance.
Khampepe delved into the severity of Zuma’s infractions, despite receiving special treatment on numerous occasions. You will remember that the former president has, on a number of instances, made it categorically clear that he had no intentions to return to the State Capture Inquiry pending the outcome of his bid to recuse DCJ Raymond Zondo.
The former president went as far as challenging the apex court to send him to jail, if that’s what it took to fight for fairness in a trial where he was the target of a supposed smear campaign.
“In an attempt to cover up these inefficiencies and wasteful expenditure, the commission sought to scapegoat me by asking the Constitutional Court to encroach my constitutional rights. For the sake of expedience of the commission, the Constitutional Court accepted the unfounded allegations that I was delaying the commission in the completion of its work when all I had done was exercised a legitimate right to challenge the impartiality of the chairperson of the commission,” he wrote.
Justice Khampepe, reflecting on the merits of the case, admitted that this was an exceptional case “because of his position as a former president of the Republic.”
Alas, the law is exactly that, and no man is above it. Considering all factors of the matter, Zuma was found guilty of being in contempt of court and sentenced to 15 months in prison.
Zuma arrest: What happens now?
Zuma has become the first president since 1994, to be found guilty in a criminal case and ordered to prison. Effectively, a warrant of arrest has been issued and the former president will either have to hand himself over to Nkandla police station within five days or expect a visit from the police.
This arrest may not be as straightforward, however. On Tuesday morning, a group of MKMVA operatives was seen setting up a barrier outside the Nkandla homestead.
#Zumaverdict Outside former President @PresJGZuma‘s home at Nkandla. MKMVA members have been stationed here for about four months now awaiting today’s @ConCourtSA judgement on the former President’s appearance at @StateCaptureCom. #eNCA pic.twitter.com/G7U5hzxSRI
— Siphamandla Goge (@SiphamandlaGoge) June 29, 2021
The ANC’s armed forces has made it clear, on a number of occasions, that no man will be allowed to remove the former president from his homestead without retaliation.
Things are expected to get out of hand and we will have all of these updates once reporters on the ground provide updates on activity outside Nkandl