Tension has continued to rise as South Africa’s police minister on Monday revealed that he was awaiting court instructions on whether to arrest ex-president Jacob Zuma, who has been handed a 15-month jail term for contempt.
The country’s top court last week convicted Zuma for contempt and ordered him to turn himself in by end of Sunday to start his sentence. If he failed to do so, the police would be told to arrest him within the following three days.
Africa Daily News, New York gathered that Zuma on Friday lodged a last-ditch application to halt the execution of the arrest order. The application will be heard in a high court on Tuesday (Tuesday).
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“We hope that we will be getting the clarification, because when we were given the instruction there were no other legal activities taking place,” Police Minister Bheki Cele told reporters on Monday.
‘The police were given the timeline of Wednesday 12 midnight… we still have got a lot of hours in between the court tomorrow,’ he said.
In responding documents to the court, the investigators slammed Zuma’s move as a further bid to jam the judicial machinery.
According to them, his application was, ‘a continuation of a pattern of abuse of the court process, Courts should not entertain such abuse any longer.’
Zuma, 79, has separately pleaded with the Constitutional Court to reconsider and rescind its order to jail him. That challenge will be heard on July 12.
Zuma’s case has transfixed South Africa, despite a raging coronavirus pandemic that has made it the worst-hit country on the continent.
Supporters have rallied outside Zuma’s rural home at Nkandla in Kwa-Zulu Natal, defying a nationwide ban on all gatherings except for funerals.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
