JOHANNESBURG: South Africa’s top court will hear an appeal on Friday to have ex-president Jacob Zuma declared ineligible in a politically charged legal showdown set to raise tensions before the tightest election in decades, local media reported on Friday.
Zuma, 82, is confronting a new opposition party that has become a potential disrupter in the May 29 polls. But electoral authorities have argued the corruption-tainted politician should be barred from the race because of a 2021 contempt of court conviction, AFP reported.
The Constitutional Court in Johannesburg is called to decide on the issue after a lower court sided with Zuma in April. Legal experts argued it might take a few days to reach a ruling.
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Coming only weeks before what is likely to be the most competitive vote since the advent of democracy in 1994, the case has made some observers nervous.
Zuma’s Jailing Triggers Unrest
Zuma’s jailing in 2021 triggered a wave of riots, unrest, and looting that left over 350 people dead. There are fears of a repeat. Many in Zuma’s camp see the Constitutional Court as partisan. It is the same court that in 2021 sentenced the former president to 15 months in prison after he refused to testify to a panel probing financial corruption and cronyism during his presidency. And the head of that panel is now the chief justice of the court.
In their filings, Zuma’s lawyers said that he and another 5 judges who sat on the bench that convicted their client should recuse themselves as “tainted by bias”.
It revolves around the interpretation of a constitutional norm barring anyone sentenced to more than twelve months’ imprisonment from serving in parliament. The ban lapses 5 years after the sentence is completed.
