Johnathan Paoli
THE Constitutional Court has declared former South Africa President and uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party leader Jacob Zuma not eligible to stand as a Member of Parliament only two days after he delivered his party’s manifesto at a packed Orlando Stadium, in Soweto.
In delivering on the much-anticipated Electoral Commission’s urgent appeal, the ConCourt found that section 47(1)(e) of the Constitution was applicable to Zuma and that his 2021 contempt of court sentence was a sentence as contemplated by the section.
“Mr Zuma was convicted of an offence and sentenced to more than 12 months imprisonment and for the purposes of section 47(1)(e) of the Constitution and is accordingly not eligible to be a member of and not qualified to stand for election to the National Assembly until five years have elapsed since the completion of his sentence”.
The Constitutional Court’s decision follows on an earlier judgement by the Electoral Court which found that due to the inability of the former President to appeal a criminal sentence by the apex court, his sentence did not fall under the consideration of the applicable sentence.
In 2021, Zuma was found guilty of contempt of court, for failing to appear before the Zondo Commission into State Capture. Based on his conviction,the IEC sought to disqualify him from running for election, but the Election Court overturned the decision, prompting an urgent appeal by the commission to the ConCourt.
The ConCourt, however, declared the EC’s ruling erroneous and said that it did in fact fall under the scope of the section, in effect, disqualifying Zuma from running in the upcoming national and provincial elections.
The order was granted without any costs and Zuma was granted leave to appeal in the apex court.
The court’s decision will come as a blow to Zuma and his upbeat supporters who went to fill up Orlando Stadium on Saturday to hear him deliver the MK Party’s manifesto where he promised to tackle crime and provide jobs and free education among other pledges he made.
It is not yet clear whether Zuma or his MK Party will appeal the decision.
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