Breaking: Jacob Zuma Found Guilty of Being in Contempt of Court
- Former president Jacob Zuma has been found guilty of being in contempt of court after he failed to honour a Constitutional Court ruling
- The ruling was a summons that was handed to the former president for him to honour the call to appear before the State Capture Commission
- Upon defying the summons, Zuma faced many political battles including losing his team of lawyers before the ruling by the ConCourt was submitted today
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On Tuesday, the Constitutional Court found former president Jacob Zuma guilty of being in contempt of court for failing to appear at the State Capture Commission. Justice Sisi Khampepe wrote the majority judgement.
Reports state that she was thorough and addressed every aspect of the matter. Both Justice Theron and Justice Jaftha's minority judgement agreed that Zuma is guilty of contempt while Khampepe noted that the majority judgement is unappealable.
The above means that the former president has to face 15 months in jail.
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News24 reported that Justice Khampepe stated that Zuma's behaviour 'smacks of malice' thus proving that the rule of law overpowers and is supreme even for a former leader of the republic. The report continued by stating that Zuma's sentencing for the 15 month period is unsuspended.
SowetanLIVE reported that the former president's sentencing comes after he defied a ConCourt ruling to honour a summons given to him to appear before the Zondo Commission. Justice Khampepe reiterated that it is the only appropriate sanction for Zuma.
The country waited in patience as the Constitutional Court ruling was expected
Earlier, Briefly News reported that Zuma has publicly stated that he would not appear in front of the commission citing that he and Judge Raymond Zondo have a personal relationship. Zuma believes their relationship would compromise Zondo's ability to handle the evidence without bias.
According to News24, the former president is found in contempt the Constitutional Court will determine what the appropriate sentence will be, which now turned out to be a 15-month sentence.
The Commission previously recommended that the ConCourt should hand down a strong sentence to Zuma in terms of his contempt charges. The Commission added that the former president acted 'maliciously' when he did not appear before.
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Source: Briefly News
