Zuma hits back: “It is a travesty of justice to observe how the ConCourt has allowed itself to be abused”
Former president
Jacob Zuma has lashed out at the highest court in the country, accusing
some of the justices on the bench of being biased towards him.
However, Zuma adds that he is willing to serve a jail sentence should that be the decision of the Constitutional Court.
Zuma wrote a 26-point statement which was released late on Thursday evening and in which he explains his reasons for not appearing before the apex court on the day.
In its application to the court, lawyer for the State Capture Commission, Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, argued to the Constitutional Court to give Zuma a two-year sentence for contempt of court.
The Commission said it wants Zuma punished for his deliberate violation of the Constitutional Court order that had ordered the former president to appear before the inquiry.
Zuma has maintained he will not appear before the Commission until its Chair, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, recuses himself.
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In his late-night statement, Zuma says the conduct of some of the judges is part of the reason why his legal team didn’t file any documents before the court and also didn’t attend the hearing.
"Ordinarily and if I had faith that a South African court would consider my submissions, I would present them to the Constitutional Court.
"However, my experience is that many South African judges, including those of the Constitutional Court, can no longer bring an open mind to cases involving me as they have done in awarding legal costs against me in a case I had not participated in.
"It is a travesty of justice to observe how the Constitutional Court has allowed itself to be abused in this manner and the repeated warnings I have made in this regard continue to go unheard simply because they emanate from me.
"The truth is that the Commission approached the Constitutional Court directly to compel me to appear on the grounds that Commission was running out of time and that approaching a lower court as is the correct legal procedure, would have caused delays that would have affected the timelines around which the Commission needed to finish its work," writes Zuma.
He concludes by saying all South Africans should be concerned about the dangerous situation the country is heading towards.
"The core principles about separation of powers between the judiciary, legislature and the executive are being gradually weakened.
"More concerning for me as a person who fought for this democracy, is how the judiciary is now in the position where they are beyond reproach and the judges in this country are continuously taking extra powers to themselves to the detriment of legitimate democratic processes."
The court reserved judgment.
