To be fair, let JZ try to stay out of dock

In virtually any other criminal legal proceeding, a summons to an accused to appear in court would be the beginning of a trial, one of the fundamental components in our system of justice.

But the case against Jacob Zuma has been, from its very start – back in 2005 when Zuma’s name was mentioned more than 400 times in the judgment convicting Schabir Shaik of corruption – anything but a normal criminal proceeding.

For the past 13 years, the former president and his legal teams have – with the help of taxpayer money – fought tooth and nail to prevent him from standing in the dock.

Whether he will actually be in the High Court in Pietermaritzburg next week is also far from being settled. His legal advisors have said they are preparing to take on review the decision of the National Prosecuting Authority to press ahead with the charges.

What we can say with certainty is this: if Zuma does put in a court appearance next week, he will be late (that is his track record) and the first business will be an application for a postponement of the case.

These tactics by Zuma, though, have the whiff of desperation about them, as he clearly realises he no longer has the absolute power to twist the organs of state – and particularly the ones associated with criminal justice – in the direction of his liking.

It does not appear there is anything Zuma can do to stop the process, which has been gathering momentum ever since he was ousted as president of the ANC by Cyril Ramaphosa at the ANC elective conference in December last year.

We must allow him to exhaust every option open to him so that when he finally has to account, he cannot claim he is being unfairly prosecuted.