Staunch Jacob Zuma Backer Andile Lungisa Vows Shutdown if Arrest Is Made
- Jacob Zuma has not been short of supporters and those castigating the Constitutional Court's (ConCourt) decision to sentence him to prison
- The former president is faced with the possibility of spending the next 15-months in jail but a former ANC councillor in the Nelson Mandela Bay, Andile Lungisa, has vowed to a nationwide shutdown in retaliation
- Lungisa termed the judgement as political activism and accused the judges of not doing their job
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An outpouring of support has trailed Jacob Zuma since the former president learnt of his fate on Tuesday.
The former African National Congress (ANC) councillor in the Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB) metropolitan, Andile Lungisa, is making the radical call for a nationwide shutdown in support of the embattled Zuma.
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Lungisa, much like all other allies and supporters of Zuma, has slammed the country's judiciary citing judges were not doing their job. He further accused them of becoming "political activists".
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Zuma was found guilty of contempt of court and sentenced to a 15-month prison term. He was given five days from the time the judgement was passed within which to hand himself over to authorities, either in Nkandla or Johannesburg.
'If the police have got bullets, they must kill all of us'
In retaliation to the judgment, Lungisa said they had organised a shutdown protest across all provinces. According to a News24 report, the national shutdown is planned for Friday, 2 July.
According to the same report, the former councillor stated that the shutdown will not be under the banner of the ruling party or Radical Economic Transformation (RET) group.
Lungisa has been quoted saying the ruling handed down by the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) should be disregarded. He said:
"To hell with the decision. If the police have got bullets, they must kill all of us. That is the message which we are communicating ... We are saying, this time around, we will respond.
"Because we are saying there is no way any system that tampers with justice should have a place. We are not going to rest until the ConCourt judges resign," added Lungisa.
Democracy hero to convict: Zuma judgement put under the microscope
Zuma's Constitutional Court judgement has come under the glaring eye of the microscope as South Africa and the world look on and attempt to make sense of the scenes that have played out.
In a report recently, Briefly News reported that the country's embattled former president was once seen as a struggle hero, putting his weight strongly behind what was a raging fight against the ills of an oppressive racial system.
Today, he faces the prospect of spending the next 15 months of his life behind bars – at 79 years of age – having once been familiar with the cold metal bars of a jail cell as a political prisoner.
This next foreseeable chapter in his journey up to now is courtesy of a defiant stance against a corruption probe into his administration.
That open defiance brought contempt of court charges being levelled against Zuma, months after he denied an order to appear before the State Capture Inquiry, with the additional ruling that the charges cannot be appealed.
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Source: Briefly News
