The Constitutional Court has agreed to hear former president Jacob Zuma’s application to overturn a 15-month jail term it gave him for defying an order before the state capture commission of inquiry.
The decision on Saturday did not indicate whether Zuma would still be required to present himself to the police on Sunday.
Zuma’s application to have the conviction set aside on grounds that could expose him to Covid-19 will be heard on July 12, seven days after the apex court gave him five calendar days to turn himself in, failing which police minister Bheki Cele and national police chief Khehla Sithole would be obliged to order his arrest.
The former leader also made an urgent application to the high court in Pietermaritzburg to stay an order to hand himself over to law enforcement authorities by Sunday, and to interdict the police from arresting him pending his application to the Constitutional Court.
This case at the high court in Pietermaritzburg is expected to be heard on July 6, according to Mzwanele Manyi, spokesperson for the Jacob Zuma Foundation.
After initially denouncing the judgment as “judicially emotional and angry and not consistent with our constitution,” the former president in court papers filed on Saturday pleaded with the court to urgently consider his rescission application “based on [its] legal merits”.
It is unclear whether acting chief justice Raymond Zondo, who also serves as the head of the Zondo Commission, will be on the bench when the case is heard before the Constitutional Court. Zondo is the main applicant in the Zondo Commission’s contempt of court application to the Constitutional Court and is also the second respondent in Zuma’s rescission application.
The Constitutional Court’s spokesperson, Nathi Ncube, declined to comment.
Meanwhile, the ANC’s top leadership is locked in talks with the former president at his Nkandla homestead in northern Kwa-Zulu Natal. This follows the ANC postponing its national executive committee meeting, which was scheduled to be held this weekend to deal with the developing situation in the province.
KZN ANC spokesperson Nhlakanipho Ntombela said following the talks the party’s provincial chairperson, Sihle Zikhalala, will head to a virtual meeting with the provincial executive committee to brief the leadership about the talks.
The ANC NEC delegation led by Zikhalala includes police minister Bheki Cele, Jeff Radebe, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Fikile Mbalula, Tony Yengeni and Lindiwe Sisulu.
In-between discussions with the party’s leadership, Zuma briefly appeared outside his home with Mlandeli ‘Mgilija’ Nhleko, who is the commander of the AmaZulu regiments or amabutho.
This was the former president’s first public appearance since the handing down of the judgment. He is expected to give a public address on Sunday from Nkandla, according to the Zuma Foundation.
Nkandla has been a hive of activity since the Constitutional Court’s judgment on Tuesday with Zuma’s supporters descending on the area. Supporters include members of the disbanded Umkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA) who have camped outside since the court judgment, vowing to support the former president.
On Friday, MKMVA spokesperson Carl Niehaus told reporters that Zuma’s arrest may lead to bloodshed and violence in the country.
The SA National Defence Force (SANDF) on Friday denied vague reports that its members had been deployed to Nkandla to quell the worsening situation.
“There are competent agencies empowered by our constitution to be deployed at any stage, time and place in the country as the situation demands,” SANDF said in a statement.
