Commission tells court Zuma can't continue breaking the law

Former president Jacob Zuma is a repetitive, recalcitrant law breaker who must be jailed for 15 months as per the Constitutional Court order.

This was the salvo fired by state capture commission Adv Tembeka Ngcukaitobi SC as he tore into Adv Dali Mpofu SC’s application in the Pietermaritzburg high court to suspend the ConCourt’s order to arrest Zuma by midnight on Wednesday.

THE LAW EXPLAINED | Will Jacob Zuma report to police on Wednesday or be arrested?

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In a last-ditch effort to help Zuma avoid arrest, Mpofu argued that the former president would be prejudiced if he were to be arrested on Wednesday while he stood a chance to sway the court.

Zuma was found in contempt of court after he refused to abide by the ConCourt order that he obeys the summonses of the Zondo commission, which requested him to attend its proceedings and testify on state capture allegations.

Zuma also refused to participate in the commission’s successful application for him to be charged with contempt.

He had until midnight on Sunday to hand himself over to the police to be directed to a prison where he would begin serving his sentence, failing which, the apex court ordered police minster Bheki Cele and national police commissioner Gen Khehla Sitole to arrest him by midnight on Wednesday.

As Mpofu and Ngcukaitobi argued before judge Bhekisisa Mnguni, the ConCourt was mum on whether it had been persuaded by Cele, who in a letter asked to be allowed to hold off on the arrest until the outcome of Zuma's high court application.

In a letter from the state attorney on behalf of Cele, the minister said the pending litigation by Zuma to the Pietermaritzburg high court had a direct affect on the order for police to arrest him.

The state attorney’s letter, dated July 5, was addressed to acting chief justice Raymond Zondo at the ConCourt.

However, national police spokesperson Brig Vish Naidoo on Tuesday said they still had until midnight to arrest Zuma should the ConCourt compel them to do so.

“We still have until the evening to execute the initial order. We were not saying we are not going to execute the order but we were requesting clarity [from the ConCourt]. We have not received the response or that clarity, but we still have until midnight to execute the order.”

Spokesperson for the office of the chief justice, Nathi Mncube, said they had not received the letter and that it may have been only directed to the apex court.

Mpofu had earlier in the day argued that Zuma would be prejudiced if he were to be arrested while he still stood a chance of successfully having  his 15-month  sentence rescinded. The matter will be heard in the apex court on Monday.

Mpofu said the ruling on the application could take months before it is delivered and that this would lead to Zuma being prejudiced and his rights violated if he were to languish in jail before the matter was concluded.

“What the court is now being asked to do is that for all that period between now and the hearing and between the hearing and the judgment months down the line, the applicant must be sitting in jail without ever sitting in any trial and only thereafter if the judgment is set aside then he must be released. What is that?” Mpofu asked.

In his argument for the commission, Ngcukaitobi said threats of violence declared by Zuma’s supporters should be ignored by the court.

He said when Zuma broke the law, he knew he was sick and too old to go to prison. He said Zuma, during a media briefing at his homestead in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal, at the weekend, “was a defiant man who did not want to obey the law”.

“What we are dealing with here is a repetitive and recalcitrant law breaker in the form of Mr Zuma. He has now come to ask you to assist him in breaking the law further.

“You should reject that. Second, we have a trend scenario in which your lordship has been asked to suspend the order of the superior court. Again, you must reject that.

“The threat of violence emanating from former president Jacob Zuma’s supporters gathering in Nkandla should not dictate the correct legal position,” said Ngcukaitobi.

“We have another situation where Mr Zuma has continued his lawbreaking attitude where he is drawing inspiration from the conduct of the police. Your lordship should pay no heed to that..”