NO EXCUSE-NPA MUST CHARGE ZUMA WITH CONTEMPT OF COURT

24 June 2015

The ruling of the North Gauteng High Court on the Bashir fiasco is extremely damning. Judge President Dunstan Mlambo asked the NPA to decide whether or not to prosecute the government. Clearly the NPA cannot decline to do so.

The judge said that there was no way the government was not aware of President Al-Bashir's escape. As such it was in defiance of a High Court order that government should not allow him to leave the country.

COPE has consistently maintained that President Zuma was directly involved in this illegal and criminal act of wilfully ignoring a lawful court order.

Judge President Mlambo made it plain that "a democratic state cannot function if the government does not uphold court decisions". He warned that if the edifice of law and order was made to crumble, stone by stone, chaos will ensue. Rule of law had to obtain and government has a primary responsibility to ensure that.

The cavalier attitude that President Zuma displays towards the law is directly fuelling crime and lawlessness in our country. He makes the breaking of the law acceptable by his example. What a disgrace that the President of our country is a serial violator of our laws.

The NPA must do its work without fear or favour. They must prosecute President Zuma and his accomplices for contempt of court.

President Zuma and the ruling party are indeed a serious threat to our democracy. If they are not stopped soon, chaos will indeed ensue as the Judge President warned.

Statement issued by Dennis Bloem, COPE spokesperson, June 24 2015