Dali Mpofu: "Another Marikana" Looming If Jacob Zuma Is Not Granted Stay of Arrest
- Former president Jacob Zuma's legal representative Dali Mpofu has alluded that another Marikana situation could happen if Zuma is arrested
- Mpofu told the Pietermaritzburg High Court that having Zuma arrested while awaiting his rescission case outcome would be a human rights violation
- The Helen Suzman Foundation however believes that Zuma will most likely not win his application
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Advocate Dali Mpofu told the Pietermaritzburg High Court in his closing argument over Zuma's jail sentence that there was a possibility of tragic civil unrest if the court did not grant former President Jacob Zuma a stay of his warrant of arrest.
The High Court heard submissions from Zuma's legal team as to why the Constitutional Court's order for Zuma's arrest should be suspended while awaiting his rescission application to be heard on 12 July, according to News24.
Source: Getty Images
Zuma filed the two legal challenges after the Constitutional Court ruled him guilty of being in contempt of court and sentenced him to 15 months in prison.
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Mpofu argued that the Pietermaritzburg High Court had the authority and jurisdiction to suspend an order that was handed down by a higher court, according to TimesLIVE. He also stated that if the court did not grant Zuma a stay of arrest, it would be a gross violation of human rights.
Mpofu further stated that if the court declined Zuma's stay of arrest application, the court would be indirectly or even directly prejudicing Zuma's rescission application.
Alluding to the situation outside Zuma's home in Nkandla, Mpofu said the court needed to use its best judgement of the situation.
"...let's just have another Marikana. Let's have whatever might happen simply because this was an order of a higher court and with no authority being cited," he said.
Helen Suzman Foundation does not believe Zuma's rescission application will succeed
Advocate Max du Plessis on behalf of the Helen Suzman Foundation has stated that Zuma is unlikely to succeed in getting his application to rescind his sentence. The Helen Suzman Foundation is opposing Zuma's application for a stay in arrest, according to TimesLIVE.
Du Plessis argued that Zuma is not a victim and that his application was about past and present defiance and constitutional violations.
"He has, through his own actions, disentitled himself from any relief,” Du Plessis told the Pietermaritzburg High Court.
Du Plessis added that it was unconscionable for Zuma to seek protection from this court while he's still in contempt.
Zuma's High Court judgment will be handed down on Friday, 9 July.
Zuma kicked out of NEC special meeting as he was on the agenda
Briefly News previously reported that Zuma is said to have been kicked out of the ANC's NEC meeting that took place over zoom on Monday. This comes after Zuma told journalists at his home in Nkandla on Sunday that he was a member of the NEC and therefore would be part of the meeting.
A source at the meeting told SowetanLIVE that ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe asked Zuma to leave the meeting since he was on the meeting's agenda.
In the same meeting, the NEC rejected the proposal for a Zuma task force, stating that the NEC had other issues they needed to deal with in the country and Zuma's legal woes were not more pressing.
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Source: Briefly News
