Manyi bemoans Zondo’s ‘conflict of interest’ ahead of Zuma’s hearing

With the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) set to hear former president Jacob Zuma’s rescission application on Monday, the spokesperson of his foundation, Mzwanele Manyi, says he believes that the hearings will be compromised.

Zuma was slapped with a 15-month jail sentence when he was found guilty of contempt of court by the Constitutional Court last week Tuesday for failing to comply with the court’s ruling forcing him to appear before the Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture.

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After refusing to make any submissions on the sanction he should face, Zuma argued sending him to prison would amount to a “death sentence”.

He is currently serving his prison sentence at the Estcourt Correctional Centre in KwaZulu-Natal after he decided to hand himself over to the authorities on Wednesday evening.

Jacob Zuma’s rescission

The former president will now have to wait for Monday to see if he will be released from prison after the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Friday dismissed his application to have his arrest order stayed until the rescission application before the Constitutional Court was concluded.

However, the State Capture Commission has since filed papers at the Constitutional Court asking it to dismiss, with costs, Zuma’s rescission application.

During an interview with eNCA, Manyi indicated that there was no doubt Monday’s proceedings will be compromised. This is because of the commission’s chairperson Justice Raymond Zondo.

Zondo took over the role of acting chief justice earlier this month due to Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng being on leave.

This means Zondo is expected to oversee the proceedings of Zuma’s application, which seeks to rescind his imprisonment.

“This is the same situation we have been arguing. I mean can you imagine a very funny situation here. The chairperson of the commission, the administration that is leading in the State Capture Commission had written to the administration in the ConCourt to say that the decision of the ConCourt must not be favourable to President Zuma.

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“This is the biggest anomaly that we can ever find. We have got a man that has positions everywhere. At one point, he is the chairperson of the commission. At another point, he is actually a complainant because he also has his own affidavit to articulate his own version of what President Zuma is saying about their friendship.

“So the man is a complainant on the one side and on the other, he is a judge in the case of President Zuma. On the other hand, he is the chairperson that is writing to the ConCourt to say don’t rescind this judgement. It’s a very conflicted situation,” he said.

Watch the explosive interview here:

Additional reporting by News24 Wire