Zuma in contempt of court and must be arrested

15 February 2021

Former President Jacob Zuma ignored a direct instruction of the Constitutional Court, to appear before the Zondo Commission of Inquiry, today and he must be arrested at once for being in contempt of court.

It appears that Zuma is hoping that the Commission's term will lapse at the end of March this year and, thus, he is playing for time in an attempt to get out of having to testify.

In reality, the Commission's term can be extended.

In addition, it is not up to Zuma's legal representatives to decide whether he needs to appear before the Commission or not. The Constitutional Court ruled and instructed that he must appear today, and that instruction was wilfully ignored.

That amounts to contempt of the highest court in the country and any other citizen of South Africa would have been arrested by now if they had done the same.

The FF Plus's view is that Zuma is not above the law. He may not get preferential treatment and must be arrested. And then his legal team can decide what to do next.

Issued by Pieter Groenewald, FF Plus leader, 15 February 2021