Constitutional Court hands Zuma a 15-month jail term for contempt
Former president Jacob Zuma has five days from Tuesday to hand himself over to the police at Nkandla or the Johannesburg Central Prison.
Zuma has been found guilty of contempt of court by the Constitutional Court for refusal to appear at the commission of inquiry into state capture.
In a majority ruling, Justice Sisi Khampepe said Zuma had blatantly violated the court's order and launched an attack on the judiciary.
"The strength of the judiciary is being tested, I penned and hand down this judgment in response to the precarious position in which the Constitutional Court finds itself on account of a series of direct assaults as well as calculated and insidious efforts launched by Mr Zuma to corrode its legitimacy," said Khampepe.
She further stated that Zuma has himself continuously stated he would rather spend time in prison than appear at the commission, so in the court’s view it would not be effective to again attempt to force Zuma to appear.
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Zuma did not oppose the application by the commission, nor did his lawyers submit papers.
In the judgment, Khampepe said the majority of the Constitutional Court justices gave Zuma the right to submit and oppose the application.
They were satisfied that the apex court followed all due processes to afford the former president his constitutional rights.
"This case is exceptional not in a sense that Mr Zuma is being treated exceptionally, but because there are certain exceptional features of this factional matrix that justify the imposition of an exceptional sanction.
“These factors include the nature and intensity of Mr Zuma's attacks on the judiciary, secondly the relevance of his position as the former President of the republic and it goes without saying that the importance of public confidence in the judiciary cannot be overstated," she said.
The court ordered Minister of Police Bheki Cele and National Police Commissioner Khehla Sitole to ensure Zuma is arrested and taken to prison in an event that he fails to hand himself over to the police within five days of the judgment.
