Zuma decision vindicates SA judges and little else

Judge Chris Nicholson ruled in favour of Jacob Zuma in the application before the Pietermaritzburg High Court, in that the National Prosecuting Authority’s decision to prosecute the ANC president was held to be invalid. His judgment flowed from a procedural failure by the NPA as opposed to any decision on the merits of the case.

The judge confirmed that the decision to proceed with the new charges without affording Zuma an opportunity to make representations was not in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.

This means in effect that if the State were to remedy this procedural defect they might still be entitled to proceed with the prosecution. Nowhere was the ANC President’s innocence or guilt debated nor any finding made in respect thereof. This was not an acquittal, which would have brought matters to an end.

As I understand it, an application for a permanent stay of prosecution by the Zuma legal team is the next item on the agenda.

Significantly, the judge did not rule out the possibility of a political conspiracy in the charging of Zuma and sharply criticised both President Mbeki and the cabinet. This will intensify the pressure on Mbeki despite the Zimbabwean problem finally achieving resolution.

How the ANC deals with Mbeki, in light of the judgment, may well be critical to the way forward. Hopefully they will put an end to revenge politics and finally bridge the gap between Zuma and Mbeki — don’t hold your breath.

What today has shown is the likelihood that the politicians have been using the courts and organs of state for their own agenda. In light thereof I trust that rather than attacking the NPA, the ANC and its leaders in particular will be apologising to them and the country for their conduct. Lest they forget that if there was a political conspiracy, it originated from the ANC itself.

While the Tripartite Alliance celebrates the decision, prior to their getting too carried away, careful consideration should be given to their conduct throughout. It really wasn’t becoming the leadership or members of the ruling party and government and leaves plenty of room for improvement.

What cannot be ignored is that the ANC, ANCYL, SACP and Cosatu repeatedly threatened the country with mayhem if they did not get their own way. Their conduct has been a disgrace and while it has improved of late, does not excuse the attacks on the judges in particular and abuse of the criminal justice system as a whole.

Speaking about getting carried away, the Young Communist League’s confirmation that the SAHRC have been asked to investigate a claim against Zapiro relating to the cartoon we saw earlier this week has to be the height of chutzpah. Members of the YCL, ANC, SACP, Cosatu and the ANCYL have been making “kill for Zuma” statements and far worse right throughout this period.

That is criminal conduct which should have resulted in the parties concerned facing charges. While I personally thought that Zapiro’s effort was OTT when compared to what the Zuma’s supporters were coming up with, it was like a picture out of Noddy goes to Toyland.

Accordingly, it is best that the YCL leaves the matter to rest now and that the SAHRC starts to show some consistency. If Kollapen tells us to expect highly robust debate prior to the election and sets the yardstick at giving Malema a rap on the knuckles for his ‘contributions’, then Zapiro should be given the Star of South Africa or a gift of a submarine rather than any sanction.

You can’t abdicate to power and then find courage when it appears expedient to do so.

I trust that the ANC will now be able to clamp down on those groups within the party and the alliance that have been running amok while the ANC president has been at his weakest.

In addition, that attempts will be made to finally broker a deal between the two factions, which after all is what occasioned this mess in the first place. That would create a lot more goodwill towards the judge’s decision in terms of the whole country rather than just Zuma supporters.

The ANC is now hopefully in a position to tell its alliance partners to leave the treasury and Reserve Bank in peace because their discussion papers will result in stagflation and little else, as well as confirming that seats in parliament and elsewhere will be allocated through the party and only through the party, as always.

On what may prove to be an early “Good Friday” for South Africans, let us hope that this ruling, together with the Zimbabwean power-sharing deal, will act as a lift for the whole region, rather than misleading hotheads into believing that their actions actually achieved anything. Best they understand that the judge acting in the best traditions of South African Law and based upon the legal arguments before him, made the decision. Their willingness to die for Zuma was relevant only in so far as those who did ‘die’ did it quietly outside the court.

The time for the ANC leadership to unite the party is long overdue and it is becoming vital if they are to start restoring their credibility.

A final point on Helen Zille: this lady is proving to be the true champion of this country’s constitutional democracy. Even where she has differed substantially in her line of thinking, she has earned my deepest respect for her courage and insight.

Perhaps she might give consideration to starting leadership classes …