Durban - The long-awaited judgment on the Jacob Zuma rescission application, which was filed in early July this year as a last-minute bid to avert the jailing of the former president, would be handed down on Friday.
The Constitutional Court announced this on Thursday.
“Judgment on Friday, September 17 at 10h00: Is the judgment and order of the Constitutional Court, sentencing former President Zuma to imprisonment for contempt of court, rescindable? And should it be set aside? (JG Zuma v Secretary of the Judicial Commission and Others),” the court announced.
In his application, Zuma and his legal team argued that his jailing for 15 months at the Estcourt prison for contempt of the same court, the instruction of which to appear before the State Capture Commission he had defied, was unlawful.
Among a host of reasons advanced by Zuma’s legal team, led by advocate Dali Mpofu SC and advocate Thabani Masuku SC, was that he had been jailed without a trial.
Although the application was on an urgent basis, the apex court withheld its ruling, forcing Zuma to eventually surrender to start serving his sentence on July 8.
Later the court asked all parties involved to file supplementary affidavits and argue whether Zuma’s jailing violated international law or not. Zuma’s lawyers argued that a litany of international laws were violated, and asked the court to free him.
On the other hand, the State Capture Commission, chaired by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, urged that no international law had been violated and Zuma’s jailing was fairly carried out.
It remains to be seen how the court will rule on Friday, as Zuma is already out on medical parole, which was granted to him on September 5 this year.
Meanwhile, Zondo has since applied to the North Gauteng High Court to have the lifespan of the State Capture Commission extended from 30 September 2021 to 31 December this year.
Zondo says he never anticipated that there would be delays in their work, as his team had worked long hours to finish the task.
Political Bureau