By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The ANC says the sentencing of former president Jacob Zuma to 15 months in prison by the Constitutional Court marks a difficult time for the governing party. It has also pleaded for calm.
In KZN, ANC KZN provincial chairperson and KZN Premier, Sihle Zikalala, said the ruling has far-reaching consequences.
The ANC and ANC KZN were responding to Tuesday’s Constitutional Court ruling that Zuma should be jailed for 15 months for defying the court directive that he should appear before the Zondo commission.
The court ruled that Zuma has five days to surrender to either the Nkandla police station or Johannesburg central police station. If he failed to do so, the court directed Police Minister Bheki Cele to ensure that Zuma was placed at a correctional services facility within three days.
“The ANC has noted the judgment of the Constitutional Court in the matter of Secretary of the State Capture Commission v Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma.
“The ANC is currently studying the judgment. Without doubt this is a difficult period in the movement and we call upon our members to remain calm.
“The meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) scheduled to take place this weekend, will reflect on the implications and consequences of the judgment. We reaffirm our commitment to upholding the rule of law and fulfilling the aspirations of our constitutional democracy, ” the ANC said in a statement.
KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala also added his voice on Tuesday.
“The judgment of the Concourt bears far-reaching implications for the ANC and the country. President Zuma remain(s) one of those who sacrificed a lot for this country,” Zikalala wrote on his Facebook page.
Meanwhile Edward Zuma, former president Jacob Zuma’s son, says he’s prepared to die to defend his father from arrest and imprisonment.
Speaking to the SABC after his father was convicted of contempt for refusing to take the stand at the Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture and sentenced to 15 months in prison by the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) on Tuesday, Edward said: “I still maintain my position. Whatever decisions are taken by the law-enforcement agencies of the country, they will have to kill me first before such thing [an arrest] is implemented.
“I will lay down my life for president Zuma. They are not going to take him to prison while I am still alive. They will have to kill me first.”
Edward insisted that his statement was not “reckless” when quizzed by the SABC, saying that those who had been plotting against his father for 15 years were the reckless ones.
He also rallied his father’s supporters, including members of the uMkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA), to come to his father’s aid and defend him from arrest.
Elsewhere ActionSA said today’s judgement handed down in the Constitutional Court, finding Former President Jacob Zuma guilty of contempt of court, and sentencing him to 15 months of direct unsuspended imprisonment.
In handing down the judgement, Acting Deputy Chief Justice, Sisi Khampepe, emphasised that Zuma’s “attempts to evoke public sympathy through unfounded allegations fly in the face of reason and are an insult to the constitutional dispensation for which so many men and women fought for and lost their lives!”
It is now clear for all to see that Zuma’s attempts to ignore, undermine and destroy the rule of law will not be tolerated in our democratic society.
This is indeed a victory for all South Africans that have become gatvol with those who have looted our country with impunity. Finally, Zuma will find himself where he belongs – behind bars.
The State Capture Inquiry welcomed the Constitutional Court judgment which sentenced former president Jacob Zuma to 15 months behind bars and DA leader John Steenhuisen said former president Jacob Zuma’s impending arrest vindicates the party who has been leading the charge against Zuma long before he was public “enemy number 1”.
Steenhuisen said the DA rang the alarm over Zuma destroying the institutions of democracy and subverting the constitutional order, to enrich his friends and family.