Former president Jacob Zuma is pictured at the Commission of Inquiry State Capture in Johannesburg, 19 July 2019. Picture: Refilwe Modise
The Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma Foundation has registered its displeasure with the way the revelation regarding Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo’s estranged child with Jacob Zuma’s wife’s sister has played out in the media.
According to the foundation, this, and other recent events point to a political onslaught against Zuma on the part of the judiciary.
“As if primed to descend on president Zuma and his lawyers, media houses were abuzz, falsely accusing president Zuma’s lawyers of using a private matter to fight a legal case,” stated the foundation, before adding, “This was a deliberate diversion, sponsored to divert attention away from the source of the declaration, the deputy chief justice himself.”
The foundation further stated their concern about Zondo’s penchant for making media statements and alleged that Zondo seems to be particularly fond of making such statements on matters related to Zuma.
“We maintain that these statements are reserved for President Zuma and no other witness. They are part of the pattern that has emerged from our courts, to develop jurisprudence that seeks to deal with the President Zuma and those thought to be associated and aligned to him.”
The foundation also stressed the fact that Zuma’s application for the recusal of the deputy chief justice has not yet been filed.
This is not the first time the foundation has lambasted the commission. In early October, the Jacob Zuma Foundation issued another statement labelling the commission “a political process” meant “to achieve political ends.”
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They also referred to his disclosure of his child’s existence as “the advice of the hidden backroom masters and their advisors, trying in vain to do a pre-emptive strike for their man.”
“It is rather curious that the deputy chief justice deemed it necessary and appropriate to comment on a matter that is still to be placed before him for adjudication,” added the foundation before advising Zondo and his alleged publicity team to patiently wait for Zuma’s legal team to formally file their recusal application.
The statement comes after the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled against Zuma on Friday, dismissing with punitive costs an appeal against the order of the North Gauteng High Court and imposing personal costs against him. Another thing that the foundation is not happy about.
“While we did not expect any positive outcome from a South African court in a matter relating to president Zuma, we had hoped that our courts would have some decency to steer clear from politics.
“We note that our courts have become part of the political onslaught against president Zuma, bending the law in order to serve political elites that seek to scapegoat president Zuma for all the ills that confront South Africa. It is clear that punishing Zuma has become a guarantee for a career in the judiciary.”
The foundation concluded by imploring Zond to “maintain the decorum of a judge.”
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Read the full statement below:
A statement issued by the Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma Foundation on the recent media statement made by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo | Image: Screenshot
A statement issued by the Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma Foundation on the recent media statement made by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo | Image: Screenshot
(Compiled by Kaunda Selisho)
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