Zuma must not be allowed to avoid accounting

This was the week Jacob Zuma tried to play a game of “chicken” with the law.

Defiantly, he tried to stare down the Constitutional Court, to get it to reverse its order that he be arrested to serve a 15-month jail sentence for contempt.

Zuma blinked first.

Was it out of embarrassment – the embarrassment of a loser who has seen his poker-playing bluff called by a tougher opponent – that he and his convoy of vehicles sped away from his Nkandla homestead on Wednesday night, less than 40 minutes before the deadline for his arrest?

Many were those praising Zuma for having “done the right thing” in handing himself over to avoid violence at the homestead.

There is, though, nothing “right” about using the threat of violence, anarchy and insurrection – as Zuma and his followers did from last weekend onwards – to force a legitimately constituted court to change a decision.

Yet, even though he now sits – probably in considerable comfort – at the correctional services centre in Estcourt in KwaZulu-Natal, there is no doubt that this is not the last chapter in the sorry saga of Jacob Zuma.

It is probable he will try to use every legal and political opportunity to force his release.

The Constitutional Court is sitting on Monday to hear his application for a rescission of its judgment and sentence for contempt. He may well try to apply for bail while those proceedings are in progress.

Aside from that, there is the possibility he will be home before Christmas, because prisoners are entitled to parole after they have served just one-quarter of their sentences.

Finally, there is the possibility he may go, cap in hand, and ask for a pardon from President Cyril Ramaphosa, seeking a political solution to his obvious criminality.

However, the surrender of Zuma, much as it is welcomed in many quarters, goes much further than just the man himself.

The events of Wednesday night were an affirmation of the rule of law and its cardinal principle that all are equal before it – both in its protection and in its wrath.

That is why Zuma himself, in his battles with the Constitutional Court and our entire system of justice, pushed the narrative that “democracy” was being choked by the checks and balances enshrined in our constitution … with the courts being foremost as those hindering the “revolution”.

Zuma wants a “parliamentary democracy” – or, to put it plainly, rule by ruling party which, in turn, means by a “big man” and the thugs around him.

When Zuma entered the Estcourt prison, South Africa turned away from that road – the path which has brought many African countries to their knees.

This is also an opportunity for Ramaphosa and his supporters to firmly reassert control over the ANC and – as many of its veterans hope – take it back to its roots, which lie in serving all South Africans and helping them build better lives.

Whether that happens or not will be the legacy of Ramaphosa. Surely he does not want to be remembered as the leader who put Zuma away, only to allow his own henchmen to do worse things?

To ensure that good continues to triumph over evil, Ramaphosa must push for the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture to finish its work.

Zuma must not be allowed to avoid accounting, simply because he is sitting in jail.