Constitutional Court to Rule on Zuma’s Parliamentary Eligibility

by centra
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Former party and South African President Jacob Zuma has accused his successor, President Cyril Ramaphosa of corruption and committing treason following the Phala Phala farm robbery scandal.

Former President Jacob Zuma

The Constitutional Court will this Monday decide on former President Jacob Zuma’s eligibility to serve as a Member of Parliament for the Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party. The ruling, highly anticipated across South Africa, follows a series of complex legal debates.

The legal proceedings that led to this decisive moment began on Friday, 10 May 2024, when the Constitutional Court reserved its judgment. The nine justices of the constitutional bench have since been deliberating on the critical question of Zuma’s eligibility, a contentious issue that has gripped the nation.

On 13 May 2024, the Constitutional Court added another layer of complexity to the case by requesting additional written submissions from the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), the MK Party, and former President Jacob Zuma. This request was prompted by allegedly biased comments made by IEC Commissioner Janet Love, raising questions of impartiality and fairness in the electoral process.

The issue at hand is the IEC’s appeal against the Electoral Court’s ruling, which had found Zuma eligible to run for public office. This decision came despite Commissioner Love’s earlier statement, during a press conference in January, that Zuma would not be eligible due to his 2021 sentence of 15 months imprisonment for contempt of court.

The Electoral Court had ultimately favoured Zuma but rejected the argument that Love’s comments indicated bias. However, the Constitutional Court has continued to probe this matter, seeking clarity on whether Love should have recused herself from the IEC’s decision-making process. The parties were given until 14 May to file their submissions in response.

The backdrop to this legal saga involves Zuma’s conviction by the Constitutional Court in 2021 for contempt of court, stemming from allegations of state capture, corruption, and fraud. Zuma served three months of his 15-month sentence at the Estcourt Correctional Centre in KwaZulu-Natal before being released on medical parole on September 5, 2021.

The Supreme Court of Appeals subsequently ruled on 21 November 2022 that Zuma’s parole was unlawfully granted and ordered his return to prison. This led to Zuma’s reincarceration on August 11, 2023. However, on that very day, President Cyril Ramaphosa and Justice Minister Ronald Lamola granted Zuma, along with over 9,000 other prisoners, a special remission of sentence due to prison overcrowding.

As the nation awaits the Constitutional Court’s ruling, the implications of the decision are manifold. It will not only determine Zuma’s political future but also set a precedent for how past criminal convictions shape one’s eligibility for public office in South Africa.

Stay tuned to our platform for live updates and in-depth analysis as the Constitutional Court delivers its judgment and South Africa’s political landscape faces potentially significant changes.

The Constitutional Court
The Constitutional Court

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