If, as has been hinted by his mouthpiece and JG Zuma Foundation spokesperson, Mzwanele Manyi, former President Jacob Zuma refuses to allow NPA doctors to examine him, this could see him facing another contempt of court charge.

That’s the opinion of legal experts quoted in a News24 report by Karyn Maughan.

‘If Mr Zuma refuses to allow an NPA-appointed doctor to examine him – despite there being a court order that he do so, that his own lawyer agreed to – then he is again in contempt of a court order,’ criminal attorney Ulrich Roux said. ‘Now, the last time he acted in contempt of a court order (the Constitutional Court's ruling that he appear before the state capture inquiry), he was jailed for 15 months. So, he would be well-advised to stop the nonsense, stop the delaying tactics and just have an NPA-appointed doctor examine him. If his medical condition is such that he cannot stand trial, then any doctor would confirm that.’

Attorney MacBeth Ncongwane has also questioned if Zuma could legally justify his refusal to be examined by an NPA-appointed doctor ‘because his refusal amounts to defying a lawful court order’ his own lawyers had agreed to.

Fleshing out the background, News24 notes that at a hearing last month, and with the full agreement of Zuma's counsel, Advocate Dali Mpofu, KZN High Court (Pietermaritzburg) Judge Piet Koen ordered that the state ‘may grant a medical practitioner of its choice to examine Mr Zuma to assess his ability to stand trial for corruption and for that doctor to be a witness, if necessary’. 

Advocate Wim Trengove, for the state, had told Koen it was in the interests of justice for such an order – which he said he could not imagine the defence opposing – to be granted.

Trengove stressed to Koen the power to grant such an order fell under the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Act, which allows a court to take steps to determine the fitness of an accused person to stand trial.

Koen then asked Mpofu if he had a difficulty with the state seeking an order that its own doctors would examine Zuma, to which he responded: ‘Well as I understand it, if the state has any issues with the report, then the state is entitled. Because, as I said, neither myself nor Mr Trengove, unfortunately, are medical experts so he would hardly be able to cross-examine anyone if he has not had access to his own medical team.’

Koen said: ‘Indeed that is so. So, there's no difficulty with an order being granted in respect of those three paragraphs?’

Mpofu then asked the judge to read out the three proposed orders he intended to make, which included a final order that the state might appoint its own doctor to examine Zuma and, if necessary, be a witness.

Once the judge had read those orders out, Mpofu responded: ‘That should be fine.’

In these circumstances, Zuma's refusal to be examined by NPA doctors would be a serious matter, according to Ncongwane. He described it as ‘seriously unusual behaviour, which puts Advocate Dali Mpofu and his team on a serious back foot, because it's unheard of that an agreement, which was made an order of court, will be deviated from by a party, without them furnishing any reasons’. 

He added, according to News24, that Zuma's conduct might lead to the impression the former President was clutching at straws because he did not want the uncertainty over his health – which could have significant implications for his criminal trial – to be resolved.

Manyi, however, insisted it would be premature to suggest Zuma might face contempt charges as a result of his refusal to be examined by NPA doctors, given the state had yet to decide whether it was satisfied with the medical report compiled by the former President's military doctors.

But he has not ruled out the possibility that, should Zuma be ordered to subject himself to an examination by an NPA doctor, he would take legal action ‘to protect his constitutional rights’.

Full News24 report