The ANC’s weekend national executive committee (NEC) meeting has been postponed in the light of developments in KwaZulu-Natal, ahead of a court deadline for Jacob Zuma to hand himself over for a 15-month jail term.
On Friday afternoon, the party announced the deployment of NEC members to KwaZulu-Natal, to quell violence and try to persuade the former president to hand himself over to police. Meanwhile, Zuma and his legal team were finalising his legal strategy to avoid jail time for the crime of contempt of court.
ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe said of the postponement: “The national officials were mindful of the situation developing in KwaZulu-Natal and the need for the ANC to give clear and principled leadership to ensure the maintenance of the rule of law and to avoid any violence, injury or loss of life.
“NEC members will be deployed to KwaZulu-Natal and will work with the provincial leadership in this regard. The date for the NEC meeting will be communicated in due course,” he added.
It’s understood Zuma has devised a three-pronged approach to deflect an order from the country’s highest court that he go to prison for 15 months. On Friday at lunchtime, Zuma's spokesperson, Mzwanele Manyi, said of the legal gameplan: “It is near finality.”
On Tuesday, the court ordered Zuma to report to police to “immediately” begin his sentence by Sunday. If he fails to do so, police minister Bheki Cele and police commissioner Khehla Sitole “must” arrest Zuma within three days. The instructions stem from a court order that cannot be appealed.
However, Zuma’s lawyers have identified what one legal analyst called an “ingenious” mechanism by which to try to stall Zuma’s imprisonment: having the decision rescinded in terms of the Uniform Rules of Court Act. By Friday, the former president and his lawyers were in the final stages of devising a three-pronged onslaught to ward off time behind bars.
Business Day understands the proposed tactic involves going to the Constitutional Court to have its order rescinded (or, withdrawn), approaching the Pietermaritzburg high court to stall his arrest, and applying for an urgent interdict.
Manyi would not provide details on Zuma’s legal plans. Instead he said, “Further to the statement that has been issued by the foundation to say that the foundation and its patron are in consultations with the lawyers, that process is ongoing.” Zuma is set to make a public address over the weekend, added Manyi.
It would be the first time Zuma spoke publicly on the apex court’s sanction against him. Late on Wednesday night, Zuma relayed his poor view of the judgment in a two-page statement issued by the Jacob G Zuma Foundation. In it, Zuma slated the court’s decision and claimed the state capture inquiry had been turned into a “slaughterhouse” at which witnesses libelled him.
On Thursday, Zuma supporters rallied outside his homestead in Nkandla, insistent that he would not go to jail. His supporters discharged firearms — including pistols and semi-automatic guns — into the air well into the night.
Thursday’s show of support started with a motorcade claiming to be ANC members from the eThekwini region that had assembled in Eshowe. The bumper-to-bumper procession, comprising mostly SUVs and luxury vans reverberating with music, was not without drama as guns were discharged amid singing and dancing.
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