Enforce any sanction on Zuma to avoid others following his defiant footsteps

Jacob Zuma is pushing South Africa to the brink … not just of a constitutional crisis, but of a potentially fatal split in society.

His conduct as the kingpin of state capture – and the myriad allegations against him have never been disputed by him – did much to push this country in the direction of the road to a failed state.

His latest defiance of the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture – and the Constitutional Court – threatens to accelerate that decline into a banana republic.

Make no mistake, the ANC and the country stands at the most serious crossroads in the history of our young democracy.

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If Zuma is allowed to thumb his nose at the constitution, then that document means nothing. It means, too, that the rule of law is nothing more than a joke.

If you are powerful enough, have enough friends and, disturbingly, you can play race and tribal cards with abandon, then what incentive does anyone else have to obey the law?

More importantly, why should any foreign investor, or any other serious global power, ever take South Africa seriously again?

Those are clearly the thoughts going through the mind of Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo as he prepares to petition the Constitutional Court to rein in, and punish, the constitutional delinquent from Nkandla.

This goes way beyond legal niceties. It is the final showdown between law and order.

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It will show us whether our courts really offer any protection at all.

Zondo has had to take this route because expecting the ANC to bring its own thieves and looters to book is wishful thinking.

Even now, other characters who have cases to answer, including ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule, are preparing to follow in Zuma’s defiant footsteps.

If the constitutional court decides to punish Zuma, the government must see that punishment is enforced.

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