Zuma jailed despite last-ditch plea to ConCourt
After a tense stand-off outside his Nkandla home, Jacob Zuma was taken to the Estcort Correctional Centre in KZN last night, minutes before the expiry of a court deadline for the police to arrest the former President who was sentenced to 15 months in prison for contempt.
In the end, he went quietly following threats of violence and dark suggestions of another Marikana-type situation, but not before he had made a last-ditch plea to the Constitutional Court to save him from prison.
Earlier in the evening he had written to the apex court asking it to suspend the execution of the warrant for his arrest.
The former President sought the suspension, pending the outcome either of Friday’s ruling by the KZN High Court (Pietermaritzburg) on his urgent application to have the warrant stayed, or of the apex court’s own ruling on his bid to have his 15-month sentence for contempt rescinded, notes the Mail & Guardian legal writer Emsie Ferreira.
‘We write to request that you issue a directive in terms of which the execution of the committal orders of the Constitutional Court is suspended pending the outcome of the judgment on Friday 9 July, alternatively pending the outcome of the judgment to be heard by the Constitutional Court on Monday, 12 July 2021,’ the letter reads.
The 11th-hour approach is, according to legal experts, the route Zuma and his lawyers should have taken all along in his bid to avoid arrest, notes the M&G report.
In the letter, Zuma makes reference to preparations by the police to detain him last night. The letter states that the SAPS ‘has indicated that it will be executing’ the Constitutional Court's orders ‘tonight by midnight’ despite the pending High Court judgment, says a TimesLIVE report.
Zuma believes that making the arrest now would be a ‘prejudice’ on his life should the High Court rule tomorrow in his favour and stay his arrest.
‘We understand that the Constitutional Court may direct the suspension of its orders, which if granted would be binding on the High Court to prevent our client from being arrested before all legal processes being finalised. We await your urgent response,’ the letter reads.
It is not clear from reports whether he received a response.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
