Ramaphosa vs Zuma: ‘If it’s a cooked court outcome, we’ll not accept it’ – Manyi

Jacob Zuma Foundation spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi says they will only accept the outcome of the urgent interdict application brought by President Cyril Ramaphosa in the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg if it is lawful.

“If it is a cooked outcome, we will not accept it. We will accept an outcome that is in line with the constitution,” Manyi said, speaking to the media outside the court.

Ramaphosa seeks urgent interdict

Ramaphosa is applying for an urgent interdict preventing him from “physically” appearing in court on 19 January for private prosecution in a criminal case brought by Zuma.

WATCH LIVE: Ramaphosa and Zuma square off in court

The president approached the high court on an urgent basis after Zuma – on the eve of the ANC’s 55^th elective conference in December – charged him with being an “accessory after the fact” in relation to charges the former president is pursuing against senior state prosecutor Billy Downer and journalist Karyn Maughan.

The matter is being heard by the full bench of the high court on Thursday.

Court’s jurisdiction

Manyi has questioned Ramaphosa’s interim interdict application before the high court, saying it doesn’t have the jurisdiction to hear the matter.

He said what they were dealing with was a civil court that was being asked to overturn something which was supposed to be happening in a criminal court.

“That alone should be an anomaly. You as media should be asking how is it possible that a civil court can overturn something that is in the timetable of a criminal court.”

Manyi claimed the president wanted the court to block justice and this was an attempt to shield Ramaphosa from accountability.

“He wants that court to shy away from holding him accountable. This is absurd,” Manyi said.

Carl Niehaus weights in on court case

Zuma’s staunch ally and expelled ANC member, Carl Niehaus, said he did not want to predict the outcome of the case, however, he was in court with an open mind to hear what the court was going to do.

“I sincerely hope these judges of the full bench will do the right thing… I sincerely hope these judges are not going to prove themselves to be captured,” Niehaus said.

Niehaus was in court to support the former president along with Nkosentsha Shezi – the chairperson of the ANC’s so-called radical economic transformation (RET) faction – Zuma’s daughter, Duduzile Zuma, and former South African Airways chairperson, Dudu Myeni.

Additional reporting by Thapelo Lekabe

NOW READ: Zuma has ‘deliberately misconceived’ grounds on which case is made, says Ramaphosa in affidavit