Zondo Commission Lashes Out at Zuma, Accuses Ex-president of Abusing Courts
- The Zondo Commission has criticised the move by former president Jacob Zuma to request a stay of his arrest and prison sentence
- The Commission has stated that Zuma's insistence to have his sentence stayed should not be entertained any longer as it constitutes abuse
- Zuma was on 29 June found guilty of contempt by the Constitution Court but has filed a recission application which the apex court agreed to hear on 12 July
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The Zondo Commission has chastised Jacob Zuma in their answering affidavit following the former president's recission application.
Zuma has in effect put forward a request to the court to set aside both the contempt of court order and the prison sentence, which if denied, could see him sent to prison for the next 15-months.
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The Constitutional Court (ConCourt) on 29 June found Zuma guilty of contempt of court after he refused a previous order to appear at the State Capture Inquiry. The country's apex court has since agreed to hear Zuma’s application for a rescission of his sentence on Monday, 12 July.
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The Zondo Commission is not satisfied with this latest development and has stated that Zuma's insistence to have his sentence stayed should not be entertained any longer. It further stated that his abuse of the courts should "not be entertained" any longer.
'Zuma did not meet the criteria to be granted a recission hearing'
Zuma was due to hand himself over to police either in Nkandla or Johannesburg by midnight on Sunday but has been spared the need to do this after the ConCourt's concession, Briefly News previously reported.
Chairperson of the Commission, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, who was on Friday appointed as the new Acting Chief Justice of the ConCourt amid Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng's leave of absence, was listed as a respondent in the application brought by Zuma.
Various organs of state have also been listed in the application brought by the former president. Itumeleng Mosala, who is the Commission Secretary, stated that Zuma had failed to satisfy the test for rescission in the ConCourt.
Per EWN, Mosala added that the history of the application clearly showed the continuation of “the pattern of abuse” of the court process by Zuma.
Mzwanele Manyi says Zuma not afforded rights due, takes shots at ConCourt judges
Zuma's recently appointed spokesperson and member of the African Transformation Movement (ATM) Mzwanele Manyi has added his voice to the chorus following the ConCourt's landmark judgement on Tuesday, 29 June.
Manyi is of the opinion that the former statesman was not afforded rights other criminals are given, Briefly News reported. South Africa's former president and the fourth to be elected democratically has been sentenced to 15-months in prison.
He was found guilty of contempt of court after he failed to comply with an order to appear before the Zondo Commission earlier this year.
Zuma was defiant in his stance not to appear before the commission, despite the chairperson Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo's insistence, and later ultimatum, to do so.
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Source: Briefly News
