Former president Jacob Zuma appears resigned to his fate, saying that he was waiting to “face the sentence” from the Constitutional Court after his defiance of its order to appear before the state capture commission.
In a scathing statement on Monday night — in which he also
launched a volley of attacks on commission chair, deputy chief justice Raymond
Zondo, and broadsided President Cyril Ramaphosa by saying some judges helped
him hide “what on the face of it seem to be bribes obtained to win an internal
ANC election” — Zuma said that the highest court in the land had stripped him
of his constitutional rights.
He said many in the judiciary had “long left their
constitutional station to join political battles”, and his stance was not
undermining the constitution — but “rather to vindicate it”.
Zuma continued that, during the commission’s hearing on
Monday, an “unprovoked” Zondo “decided to propagate some political propaganda
against me”.
“In my absence he and Pretorius SC [the commission’s legal
team boss, advocate Paul Pretorius] decided on what they have always sought to
do, [to] turn all the narratives against me into evidence. In his long-prepared
speech, Pretorius SC presented what Deputy Chief Justice Zondo literally called
evidence against me. Realising that they had forfeited the opportunity to
present the evidence to me, they did what has become their hallmark at the
commission in making submissions to each other and playing politics to
influence public opinion.
“His [Zondo’s] conduct today fortifies my resolve and
belief that he has always sought to prejudice me. The Deputy Chief Justice
concluded by saying my contempt constitutes grounds for him to approach the
Constitutional Court to seek a sentence.
“Of course he will get it. I am not certain that ordinarily
that is how contempt proceedings would commence, but I have accepted that
Deputy Chief Justice Zondo and due process and the law are estranged.
“Now that it seems that my role in the Commission has come
to an end, I wait to face the sentence to be issued by the Constitutional
Court.
“No amount of intimidation or blackmail will change my
position as I firmly believe that we should never allow for the establishment
of a judiciary in which justice, fairness and due process are discretionary and
are exclusively preserved for certain litigants and not others,” he said.
In the 12-page document, Zuma attacked Zondo for having
“displayed questionable judicial integrity, independence and open-mindedness
required in an investigation of this magnitude”.
“I stand by my reservations and that the commission was
conceptualised as part of the campaign and sponsored multisectoral
collaboration to remove me from office,” said Zuma. He added that the
commission’s approach to the Constitutional Court came despite him taking on
review its ruling on his application for Zondo to recuse himself.
“This calculated stratagem was to frustrate my chances of
even challenging their subpoenas in our courts. The commission obviously ran to
seek a licence to act with impunity. I still persist that there was no basis or
dispute necessitating the commission to approach the Constitutional Court and
that there was no factual basis for presumption that I would defy the subpoena.
I have already presented myself to the Commission on two occasions when called
upon to do so.
“Fed with absolute lies, the Constitutional Court assumed
that I or my legal team had threatened that I would defy or refuse to answer.
You only have to peruse the records of the date of the recusal application to
know that my legal team was at pains to suggest a responsible way forward. The
submission by the commission that a threat was made that I would defy or refuse
to answer is a blatant falsehood fabricated on behalf of the commission and
entertained by the judges of the Constitutional Court,” he said.
Zuma also slated the ConCourt’s decision to make a cost
order against him, saying this was part of a campaign to “diminish my
constitutional right to approach courts”.
“The Constitutional Court went further, accepting as a
fact, the commission’s submissions that I had a constitutional duty to account
to it (for the wrongdoing). I have followed the evidence of many witnesses at
the commission, including those alleged to have implicated me and elected that
none of them had any case of substance against me.
“However, the commission sought to deliver me at all costs
and in this endeavour is prepared to break every rule of justice and fairness.
“It is that type of judicial conduct that I protest
against, not our law or our constitution. It is not the authority of the
Constitutional Court that I reject, but its abuse by a few judges. It is not
our law that I defy, but a few lawless judges who have left their
constitutional post for political expediency. I respect the law and have
subjected myself even to its abuse for the past 20 years. I have presented
myself to the Zondo Commission twice and therefore there was no factual
justification for the order given by the Constitutional Court. None
whatsoever,” said Zuma.
The former president also turned his attention to those who
have slated him for the decision to ignore the Constitutional Court’s ruling.
“The debate has tended to focus on me, with many suggesting
that I regard myself as above the law or that I do not recognise our
constitution and our law. They know as well as I do, that is not the case. Some
have argued that if I do not appear before the Zondo commission I must be
jailed or stripped of presidential benefits or pension.
“Well, for the record, I am the one that suggested that I
do not mind defending myself against the sanction that accompanies my
principled stance. Second, it should naturally please them that, should I fail
to defend myself before the relevant contempt forum, I will face jail term.
“The suggestion that I would be enticed with pension and
benefits to abandon my principled stance against what I see as bias by a few in
the judiciary, can only come from people who believe that money can buy
everything. When I joined the ANC and fought for democracy, I did not do so for
money and benefits. This, to me, is a foreign tendency to some of us who have
been freedom fighters,” he said.
As part of his missive, Zuma said judges appeared to be
targeting him and playing politics — including benefiting Ramaphosa, who went
up against and beat Zuma’s preferred candidate for the ANC presidency,
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, in December 2017.
“We sit with some judges who have assisted the incumbent
president [Ramaphosa] to hide from society what on the face of it seem to be
bribes obtained to win an internal ANC election. We sit with some judges who
sealed those records simply because such records may reveal that some of them,
while presiding in our courts, have had their hands filled with the proverbial
30 pieces of silver,” Zuma said.
“I protest against our black, red and green robes, dressing
up some individuals that have long betrayed the constitution and their oath of
office. It is those who allow it and look the other way that must do some
reflection. You do not have to like me to do this reflection. It is a choice we
must make because this country and our law will and must outlive Jacob Zuma.
“Finally, I restate that my statement is no breach of the
law. It is a protest against some in the judiciary that have sold their souls
and departed from their oath of office. It is my respect for the law that
obliges me to reject the abuse of law and judicial office for political
purposes. The law I respect, its abuse I will not,” he said. Times
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