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This week’s Constitutional Court ruling on Nkandla has pushed the ANC into an untenable moral and ethical position, leaving the party with no option but to recall President Jacob Zuma, according to four senior counsel who were part of the landmark case.
“This is the end of President Jacob Zuma. The judgment on Thursday confirmed that the president is corrupt,” said a senior counsel.
All the advocates spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they couldn’t speak on the record because they were interested parties and were directly involved in
the case.
“Morally and ethically, it will be impossible for the ANC to continue with him, and he should be recalled sooner rather than later,” he said.
Another senior counsel said it was critical and significant that the Constitutional Court ruled in favour of both the DA and the Economic Freedom Fighters, and found that Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s findings were binding and that President Zuma breached his oath of office.
“Ordinarily, somebody in his position should resign or be pushed. On the basis of consistency with the Nicholson judgment, this one is 100 times better in quality. It will be extremely difficult for the ANC to keep Zuma in office as head of state because of the judgment. They can keep him as head of the ANC, but not of South Africa. The nature of the violation is so serious that the ANC cannot continue to claim to be friendly towards the Constitution and still keep Zuma in office. It is not acceptable, both morally and ethically.”
During Zuma’s corruption trial in 2008, retired Judge Chris Nicholson found that former president Thabo Mbeki was part of a political conspiracy against Zuma. The ANC used Nicholson’s judgment to get rid of Mbeki in 2008.
“The most serious thing for me in this week’s judgment is that the court found it necessary to lecture Zuma about the duties of the president,” he said, adding that the subtext was that Zuma was not aware of his duties, or was in dereliction of them. “From a legal point of view, they have no option [but to recall Zuma].”
