The country will be gripped this week by the ongoing saga of former president Jacob Zuma and his legal battle with the Constitutional Court, which ordered his imprisonment last week to 15 months for contempt of court.
The country is in the throes of a legal and political crisis and the ANC national executive committee will meet on Monday to discuss the issue after senior NEC members went to KwaZulu-Natal over the weekend to sound out how the province was dealing with it.
IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi will also address the media on Monday regarding the happenings on the weekend outside Zuma’s Nkandla homestead where his supporters gathered.
There is still no clarity as to whether Zuma will have to be arrested and imprisoned by Wednesday pursuant to the Constitutional Court order and what standing the high court in Pietermaritzburg has to accede to his application — to be heard on Tuesday — for a stay of execution of the imprisonment order pending the outcome of the Constitutional Court hearing of his application for a rescission of its judgment, which will be heard next Monday.
Raymond Zondo, chair of the commission of inquiry into state capture, will oppose Zuma’s rescission application. The Constitutional Court has ordered that opposing affidavits be filed by Tuesday, Zuma’s reply to these by Wednesday and the opponents response to the reply by Friday.
Zuma’s legal team will also have to file heads of argument by close of business on Monday related to his application to have prosecutor in the arms deal case Billy Downer recused because of what Zuma claims is his bias against him. The next hearing of the case in the high court in Pietermaritzburg, in which Zuma and French arms manufacturer Thales are accused, is scheduled to take place on July 19. Thales is accused of bribing Zuma when he was deputy president in exchange for protecting it from an investigation into the arms deal. Zuma faces 16 charges of racketeering, fraud, corruption and money laundering.
On Tuesday parliament’s standing committee on public accounts will receive an update from the presidency on all reports of the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), which acts under proclamation by the president and has to report to him. The SIU will also give an update on its investigation into the irregular Digital Vibes communications contract awarded by the health department to two associates of health minister Zweli Mkhize who is on special leave pending the outcome of the investigation. The SIU handed a report on this to President Cyril Ramaphosa last week.
The presidency will also give an update on public works director-general Sam Vukela who was suspended in July 2020 pending the outcome of disciplinary proceedings related to allegations of fraudulent contract management and irregular payments in the planning of state funerals. The Hawks and the National Prosecuting Authority will update MPs on cases referred to them by the SIU.
On Thursday the portfolio committee on co-operative governance & traditional affairs will be briefed by the office of the auditor-general and the SIU on Covid-19 expenditure by provincial departments and municipalities.
Parliament’s ad hoc committee tasked with amending section 25 of the constitution to make explicit that land expropriation can take place without compensation will meet this week to finalise the wording of the text that will give effect to the amendments though the ANC and EFF continue to differ on the issue of state custodianship of all land.
The rapid spread of the Delta variant of the Covid-19 virus will also be top of mind this week, especially in Gauteng where hospitals are battling to cope with the influx of the seriously ill and where the number of cases have reached all time highs. Other provinces are expected to be similarly affected in the weeks to come.
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