Constitutional Court to hear Zondo’s bid to have Zuma jailed

The State Capture Commission will be heading to the Constitutional Court on Thursday, March 25, 2021, where its application to have former president Jacob Zuma arrested, will be heard.

The commission, chaired by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, approached the apex court seeking a contempt of court order against Zuma and have him sentenced to two years in prison for his refusal to appear.

The matter stems from the former president’s defiance of a January order by the Constitutional Court, compelling him to appear before the commission, following several delays on his end. Well, it turns out that not even the highest court in the land could convince him to take the stand – in an unexpected move, Zuma launched a scathing attack on both the commission and the judiciary.

“It is clear that the laws of this country are politicized even at the highest court in the land. Recently at the State Capture Commission, allegations made against the judiciary have been overlooked and suppressed by the chairperson himself,” Zuma said.

Watch: Jacob Zuma vs State Capture Commission

The matter will be heard at 10:00 and can be watched on the Constitutional Court’s Youtube page.

The State Capture Commission had approached the Constitutional Court after Zuma maintained that the process is meant to target him. This was also after Zondo had dismissed Zuma’s application to have him recuse himself. Zuma had claimed Zondo could not preside over the proceedings given their “historical family relations” – he (Zondo) fathered a child with the former president’s sister in-law.

A total of 10 days in January and February had been set aside for Zuma to provide testimony. When he (again) failed to pitch in February, which was meant to be his last five days on the stand, Zondo announced they would be forging ahead with further action against him.

“The commission will make an application to the ConCourt which is the court that made the order that Mr Zuma has defied and seek an order that Mr Zuma is incompetent of court. Then if the court reaches that conclusion it can impose a term of imprisonment on Mr Zuma or impose a fine. The commission will approach the Concourt to impose a term of imprisonment if he is found guilty but it will be up to the court to find what is appropriate,” Zondo said at the time.