ANC gives ‘persecuted’ Zuma more ‘space’ to think about ConCourt defiance

ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule says the party’s top six leaders have resolved to give former president Jacob Zuma “space” to consult his lawyers about his defiance of the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) ruling forcing him to appear before the Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture.

Speaking to the media on Monday evening after a marathon meeting with Zuma, that started at 10.30am and ended at 5.30pm, Magashule said Zuma had made an extensive presentation to the party’s leader detailing why he was choosing not to appear before commission chair, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.

ALSO READ: Zuma fails to oppose Zondo commission contempt case

Zuma impressed upon the top six that he had been unfairly “persecuted and prosecuted” for over “two decades” and that he respected the Constitution. However, Zuma said that he, too, was entitled to his rights, Magashule said.

Long awaited Top 6
Meeting took place. @PresJGZuma briefs his Legal Team on the outcomes of the meeting.
Wonder What Top 6 said to @PresJGZuma about InZondo Commission. Wonder if uncle Zondo will recuse himself? pic.twitter.com/bHPDio0BT6

— Dudu Zuma-Sambudla (@DZumaSambudla) March 8, 2021

This is not the first time that an ANC leader has come out to say that Zuma should be given “space” amid his wrangling with the State Capture Commission.

In early February, President Cyril Ramaphosa asked South Africans to give Zuma “space” to think about his stance on the Constitutional Court and commission.

“This is the matter that I am sure he is going to give much more thought to because he is being counselled by a number of people and a number of organisations that the constitutional structure that he contributed so much to needs to be given consideration … I am sure in his own time he will think about all this,” Ramaphosa said at the time.

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Meanwhile, earlier on Monday, Zuma missed his ConCourt deadline to file a response to the commission’s contempt application that could see him facing jail time.

In directions issued on 1 March, the country’s highest court gave Zuma and police authorities until the end of Monday to “file answering affidavits, if any”.

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