Riyaz Patel
The ANC says Jacob Zuma as a “law-abiding citizen who has consistently respected the courts,” adding that the court should be allowed to deal with the former president’s graft case.
This follows Tuesday’s High Court decision in Pietermaritzburg which issued a warrant of arrest after Zuma failed to appear for his fraud and corruption trial.
The arrest warrant, though, will only become active should the former president fail to appear at his next hearing set down for 6 May. This means Zuma will be arrested should he not appear on the that date.
Zuma was expected to be in court Tuesday where his corruption trial relating to the multi billion rand arms deal resumed. However, his legal team told the court he was too ill to appear.
Judge Dhaya Pillay questioned the medical note explaining his absence which Zuma’s lawyers had presented to the court.
Pillay said it appeared the dates on the document had been altered, and said Dan Mantsha, acting for Zuma, could not adequately respond to her questions.
“The date is altered to be January 6, but there is no initialing of that date. It is not clear that ZK Motene, who signed this document, is indeed a registered medical practitioner. Mr Mantsha assumes it is his medical practice number. That is guess work.”
Mantsha questioned why the judge would not accept the medical certificate, and added that his client was being “victimised and persecuted.”
While Pillay has issued a warrant, it won’t be executed before Zuma’s next court appearance on May 6, 2020.
The ANC released a statement Wednesday, saying it had “noted developments around court proceedings” regarding Zuma.
“Former President Jacob Zuma is a law-abiding citizen who has consistently respected the courts and submitted himself to judicial processes regardless of his stature. He has always cooperated with law-enforcement agencies whenever asked to do so.”
The statement concluded by appealing to members of the public “to exercise patience and allow Former President Jacob Zuma and the courts to deal with the matter when it resumes again on the 6th of May 2020.”
