Court hears Zuma's contempt conviction disbars him for election run
The Electoral Court heard on Monday that Jacob Zuma was convicted of a crime and should, therefore, be viewed as a convict.
The Independent Electoral Commission has been responding to the MK Party's challenge of its decision to bar the former president from standing as a candidate in the May general elections.
The IEC says Zuma's ineligibility is down to his previous 2021 conviction and sentence for contempt of court.
The MK Party is arguing Zuma's conviction came through civil proceedings that invoked a criminal sanction of a 15-month sentence.
READ: Barring Zuma from elections infringes on his rights, court hears
However, the counsel for the IEC, Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, has argued that a contempt of court conviction is described as a crime.
"People are only convicted of crime, the procedure for the conviction has no barring on weather they have been convicted. When there has been a declaration that you are guilty of a crime that is a conviction.
"It is declared that Mr Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma is guilty of the crime of contempt. It is irrelevant that that conviction came through a civil process. What is relevant is that Mr Zuma has been found guilty of that crime."
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