The Running Commentary

2

Zuma the courts must still decide!!

question mark

The judgement in the Jacob Zuma case took two hours to hand down and covered some 25 000 words. The state clearly did not follow process and may well have messed up the opportunity of ever bringing a case against Jacob Zuma. The findings whilst comprehensive and damaging to Mbeki did not say that Jacob Zuma was not guilty.

The final paragraph below:

“I must repeat that this application has nothing to do with the guilt or otherwise of the applicant. It deals only with a procedural point relating to his right to make representations before the respondent makes a decision on whether to charge him again. Once these matters are cured the State is at liberty to proceed again against the applicant, subject to any further proceedings he may bring.”

My comment:

Clearly while this is a victory to Zuma in terms of him avoiding the charges for the time being, people need to be made aware that his guilt or innocence in so far as his alleged corruption has not been tested in a court of law.

Many people will say that he is innocent until proven guilty, and while we all agree with this, clearly the fact that a “generally corrupt” relationship was found to be in place as far as Zuma’s “financial advisor” Shaik it is imperative that this be tested in court.

We cannot have a president in power, in the new South Africa , who may be tainted with charges of corruption. This will damage the image as far as investing in the country goes. I may be accused of being a little politically naïve in terms of this statement, but I would think that any sane investor will want to know that a country takes a hard line on corruption.

Clearly we need the NPA to move and remedy the process that was followed and bring this case to conclusion. While this may not bode well for the short term stability of the country we need to take a slightly longer term view.

All told we face the prospect of a candidate that may or may not be guilty of corruption and this needs to be cleared. We need to avoid being drawn backwards for the sake of a short term view of having a popular president. Nobody must be seen to be above the law!

courtguiltyinnocentjudgementlawMbekipresidentZuma

Mike • September 15, 2008


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Comments

  1. Jacques September 17, 2008 - 1:36 am

    I am not sure from what planet the judge is. Surely he knew that the slightest suggestion of a political conspiracy in his judgement would be seized upon by the Zuma supporters, not only as an acquittal of the great leader, but also as the vindication of their blatant contempt for the judiciary and the constitution. Courts of law should make findings based on evidence and steer away for dangerous conjecture and speculation. It is ironic that the judge himself has failed due process by not first hearing evidence from Mbeki, Pikoli and Bulelani.

    Jacques

  2. Mike September 17, 2008 - 10:32 am

    Jacques, thank you for taking time to read and comment. I agree that this judge is as guilty of creating some further turmoil. I think though that is also took the opportunity to raise some valuable issue like bringing in a commission of enquiry into the arms deal.

    We need to see what the NPA does, and particularly now that Helen Zille has said that they (DA) are considering a private case against Zuma.

    Bottomline – the ANC has some serious issues to resolve and this may well turnout really well for opposition politicians, who could work this turmoil into votes for the opposition.

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