Johannesburg - President Jacob Zuma is set to face further pressure and calls for his removal from office following Friday’s scathing judgment in the high court in Pretoria that set aside the decision to drop charges against him.
The court repudiated the 2009 decision by then acting National Prosecuting Authority head Mokotedi Mpshe to discontinue the prosecution of Zuma on nearly 800 charges of fraud and corruption.
The court’s ruling could not have come at a worse time for Zuma, when he is facing an internal power battle within the ANC that has seen some veterans, branches and at least one provincial structure openly calling for him to step down.
The calls, precipitated by the Constitutional Court ruling that found he had failed to uphold and protect the constitution, will only be strengthened by the court decision and add to the mounting reasons used against Zuma’s continued stay in office.
While the spy tapes saga may not necessarily be a major setback for Zuma and the ANC in the run-up to the local government elections because of the local nature of the polls, inside the ANC it has handed another stick with which his detractors can beat him and weaken him heading into a difficult test for the party.
The ANC has sought to downplay the impact of the spy tapes judgment on the president, but offered a less spirited defence of Zuma than it did with the Constitutional Court judgment.
ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa emphasised the party’s support for the rule of law, while pointing out that the ruling party did not automatically reinstate the charges against Zuma or establish any guilt on his part.
“It is important to note that the court did not deal with the merits of any allegations against President Zuma, nor did it make any finding declaring guilt on any matter against President Zuma.
“The judgment was solely a judicial review of an administrative action taken by the NPA as allowed for in our law.
“We trust that it shall therefore not be used by any in our society to infer any culpability in any crime or offence by the president,” said Kodwa.
By not explicitly instructing the NPA to reinstate the charges against Zuma - due to the separation of powers doctrine - the courts have placed the ball into the court of NPA boss Shaun Abrahams.
The SACP, which has become among the strongest critics of the president’s relationship with the Gupta family and the resultant state-capture allegations, said it was still studying the judgment before adopting a position.
Some leaders across the alliance were cautious about pronouncing on the implications of the judgment, but it has become apparent that this might have to be one of the issues the president will have to face when the ANC leadership meets this month.
For the official opposition DA, which has pursued the matter for seven years, the hope of the impact of the spy tapes saga also includes an appeal to those inside the ANC to place more pressure on Zuma.
DA federal chairman James Selfe conceded as much.
“I think within the ANC itself this will have profound reverberation, coming so soon after the Nkandla judgment. It implies Jacob Zuma is an electoral liability,” said Selfe.
When Zuma was at his weakest politically and isolated after he was fired as deputy president in 2005, the courts were part of paving the way for him to challenge the highest office. The Nicholson judgment - later overturned by the Supreme Court of Appeal - found there was a political conspiracy against Zuma.
Political Bureau
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