Hands off justice system, Zuma

There are two ways to look at the latest, adroit legal footwork by Jacob Zuma.

Either he is an innocent man fighting desperately to escape being framed by his enemies, or he realises the prison gates are beckoning and his time’s nearly up.

In an unprecedented assault on Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo to get him to recuse himself from the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, Zuma cited as his reason for wanting the judge removed “a historical personal, family and professional relations that ought to have been publicly disclosed”.

It is interesting that this objection is being highlighted now, rather than when Zondo was appointed by Chief Justice Moegeng Moegeng, in January 2018.

Zuma, let’s not forget, was still president of the country at that time, although on his way out after the humiliating defeat by Cyril Ramaphosa at the ANC’s Nasrec conference.

Also, let’s not forget, Zuma actually had to be ordered to set up the commission by then public protector Thuli Madonsela, whose State of Capture report started the ball of accountability rolling on the Zuma-ites.

However, what is disturbing about this latest – and, let’s face, not unexpected – gambit by Zuma is that it may be more than just another in the long line of delays he has caused in order to avoid his “day in court”, whether that be on charges of corruption, or to answer the evidence heard in the state capture commission.

This may be the beginning of a concerted effort by him and his allies to begin to attack the entire justice edifice as a way to save their own skins.

It goes without saying that this sort of reckless, scorched-earth approach to avoiding justice could do huge, long-term damage to the image, credibility and effectiveness of our courts.

This ploy must be resisted.

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