AFRICA MIRROR REPORTER
FORMER South African president Jacob Zuma has waved the proverbial middle finger at the country’s highest courts, the government and the law enforcement authorities.
In an unprecedented move, Zuma, who has been ordered by the Constitutional Court, SA’s apex court to attend and testify at the Zondo Commission into allegations of state capture, fraud and corruption, declared that he will defy the court order.
However, Zuma, in a lengthy public statement that also extoled his history with the ANC and the struggle against apartheid, declared that he willing to face the consequences of his decision.
“I do not fear being arrested,’ he said. “I do not fear being convicted nor do I fear being incarcerated”.
Last week, the Constitutional Court not only ordered that Zuma must obey all summonses issued by the commission, chaired by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, but also slapped Zuma with the cost of the application.
In a unanimous decision, the court said while Zuma does not have the right not to answer questions, he would be entitled to show to the commission why answering questions may incriminate him.
Judge Chris Japhta, who delivered the judgment on behalf of his colleagues, said: “Mr Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma is ordered to obey all summons and directives issued by the judicial commission of inquiry into allegations of state capture, corruption and fraud in the public sector, including organs of state. Mr Zuma is directed to appear and give evidence before the commission on dates determined by it. It is declared that Mr Zuma does not have the right to remain silent in the proceedings before the commission. It is declared that Mr Zuma is entitled to all privileges under section 3 (4) of the Commissions Act, including the privilege against self-incrimination.”
The ruling came after the Zondo Commission approached the Constitutional Court, seeking an order to compel Zuma to appear before it. The commission took the step after the former president left a hearing of the commission without the permission of the presiding officer.
Zuma has also accused Zondo of bias and instituted legal proceedings, asking him to himself from chairing the commission.
Yesterday,
He added: “I joined the struggle against the racist apartheid government and the unjust oppression of black people by whites in the country at a very young age. As a result, I was sentenced in December 1963 to serve 10 years on Robben Island at the age of 21. Thereafter, I continued to be at the forefront of the liberation struggle within the ranks of the African National Congress and Umkhonto weSizwe in exile until my return to South Africa in the early 90’s. In all the years of struggle, I had never imagined that there would come a time when a democratic government in South Africa built on Constitutional values would behave exactly like the apartheid government in creating legal processes designed to target specific individuals in society.
“Witnessing this carries a much more amplified pain when realizing that it is now a black liberated government behaving in this way against one of their own. The notion of divide and conquer against the ANC has never been a more apposite truism than in the current politics of South Africa. This brings to mind what the great Pan Africanist philosopher Frantz Fanon wrote of post-colonial nations in his work titled The Wretched of the Earth saying:
“If this suppressed fury fails to find an outlet, it turns into a vacuum and devastates the oppressed creatures themselves. In order to free themselves they even massacre each other. The different tribes fight between themselves since they cannot face the real enemy- and you can count on the colonial policy to keep up their rivalries”
“The wrath visited upon me as an individual knows no bounds as my children and those known to be close to me have been specifically targeted and harassed to the extent that they all have had their bank accounts closed for no particular reason other than that they are known to be associated to me. The government and the justice system have turned a blind eye to these and many other injustices simply because they target Zuma. Anything bearing the name Zuma can enjoy no legal rights or protection in this country as the grand agenda to have special and different laws that only apply to Zuma continues to manifest.
“In the circumstances, I am left with no other alternative but to be defiant against injustice as I did against the apartheid government. I am again prepared to go to prison to defend the Constitutional rights that I personally fought for and to serve whatever sentence that this democratically elected government deems appropriate as part of the special and different laws for Zuma agenda.”
