Battle lines drawn as Jacob Zuma makes last-ditch plea to avoid jail

Former South African president Jacob Zuma has made an urgent last minute appeal to the Constitutional Court, which sentenced him to 15 months behind bars for contempt earlier this week, to set aside that sentence.

 In his appeal, Zuma aligned himself with the two court Justices who adopted a dissenting view over jailing him.

 The former president has filed an urgent application in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg to prevent his jailing through a stay of arrest.

 The legal manoeuvres, coming just two days ahead of Zuma’s surrender deadline of midnight on Sunday, were matched outside his Nkalnda homestead in KwaZulu-Natal Province where the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party’s ‘military veterans association’ vowed to ‘peacefully’ prevent him from going to jail at any cost.

 In appealing to the Constitutional Court in his rescission application, Zuma cited the view of the two dissent Justices who said he should not be directly jailed by the highest court in the land – making a point of underling the uncomfortable judicial fact that he would be the first person to be so sentenced in South Africa’s democratic era.

 Unstable health

 The former president claimed that his unstable health meant that his life would be in jeopardy if he is put behind bars. Zuma also told the Concourt Justices that he had not walked out on Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo’s state capture commission probing systemic corruption, but had left to take his medication.

 By making an urgent last-hope appeal to the Concourt, said some analysts, Zuma was calculating that his application would have to be taken seriously, given what his supporters in the ruling party are saying about the ‘unconstitutionality’ of Zuma being jailed directly by the Concourt.

 Zuma’s spokesman said the Concourt judgment represented a “constitutional crisis”, a point played up by the military veterans group and other supporters who vowed to protect him.

 Behind the scenes, Zuma’s allies have been working hard in areas where he is still popular, particularly his home province of KwaZulu-Natal, where the narrative of unfairness towards Zuma is resonating well.

 Last month, the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal attempted to hold a provincial conference, previous leadership having been removed.

But when ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe tried to take the podium, the meeting chaos erupted as unruly delegates from ANC branches and regions chanted “Wenzeni uZuma”, (Zulu phrase meaning “What did Zuma do?)  refusing to allow Mr Mantashe to speak. 

 That question has become a rallying cry among his supporters in Zuma’s home province, some of whom are encamped outside his Nkandla homestead wearing headgear and t-shirts with the same phrase.

 “We shall see what happens when that time comes, we shall see,” said one of the supporters.

 Aside from the press conference, the Zuma support group outside his home has been  hostile to the media. They have reportedly heckled and threatened journalists.

“Tension is very, very high,” said one reporter on a local TV news channel, adding that there were reports of gunshots being fired into the air.

 Zuma’s appeal for rescission to the Concourt came amid indications that Acting Chief Justice Sisi Khampepe had already signed Zuma’s committal order to have the former president serve his jail term at Westville Prison in KwaZulu-Natal.