Justice minister says Duduzane Zuma should not have been put in leg irons

When former president Jacob Zuma’s son Duduzane Zuma appeared in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Monday on corruption charges, the fact that he was placed in leg irons became a major point of controversy.

Particularly on social media, it was interpreted as both unnecessary and disrespectful towards Duduzane, since he should not have been considered a flight risk as he had voluntarily arrived at the court.

He was released on bail of R100,000 and had his passport taken away in a case in which he is accused of complicity in trying to bribe former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas in a case of alleged state capture.

When Duduzane appeared in court again in Randburg on Thursday, he was not shackled again.

When The Citizen asked legal expert Zola Majavu for his view on the leg irons, he said it had been “par for the course” and indicated Duduzane was not receiving special treatment. The Hawks’ spokesperson, Hangwani Mulaudzi, however, explained this week that the issue fell outside the domain of the Hawks and they had actually tried to have Zuma appear without shackles.

Duduzane’s older brother Edward called on the SA Human Rights Commission to investigate why the leg irons were used.

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When Justice Minister Michael Masutha weighed in on the matter on Friday, he told SABC journalist Chriselda Lewis that it had indeed been a mistake on the part of authorities and Duduzane should never have been put in leg irons.

“In terms of the jurisprudence that is allowed, that is not what should have occurred. Let’s be clear about that. This may not be an isolated case. We have come to realise that there seems to be a problem of applying the rules properly in that court. There is a requirement that you must do a security risk assessment of the individual accused person you are dealing with in that situation.”

He implied that there had been incidents in the past at the court that may have led officials to adopt using leg irons in this manner and that the rights of others may also have been infringed through non-adherence to the legal prescripts.

For his part, Duduzane had tried to joke about it on Monday, saying he liked “the look”.