South African police are pushing for Zuma’s arrest

South African police have tried to curb the arrest of Jacob Zuma until the former president has exhausted his legal challenges against his prison sentence.

A letter to the South African constitutional court by the police minister and police commissioner has fueled concern that the ruling African National Congress is reluctant to imprison its former leader. Protests over his planned arrest erupted in his home state over the weekend.

Last week, the constitutional court ruled that Zuma should go to jail for defying the order to attend an investigation into corruption. Civil society activists hailed the decision as a moment for South African democracy and a confirmation of the independence of the judiciary.

Zuma, whose nine-year presidency has been plagued by allegations of corruption and economic stagnation, could not surrender to himself before Sunday’s court deadline. The constitutional court made it clear that police should take Zuma to jail by the end of Wednesday.

But the 79-year-old, who denies all wrongdoing and claims the allegations are politically motivated, has filed two lawsuits against the sentence, one in a lower court and one to rescind the original order, stating that I was sent to prison during the height of a pandemic at my age, the same one that sentenced me to death ”. The challenge will be held on July 12th.

On Monday, the minister and the national commissioner overseeing South African police wrote in court. The police “will carry out, out of respect for the ongoing litigation, new actions that are expected to be taken. . . pending the end of the litigation, “or the court’s address, the letter said.

The police minister appeared to be backtracking on Tuesday and said he would proceed with the arrest if the court did not direct him otherwise. “We have put the responsibility on the court to give us instructions,” police minister Bheki Cele told South African television Newzroom Afrika on Tuesday. “If they don’t give us direction, we have an address that will end at noon on Wednesday night.”

Legal analysts have said Zuma’s legal offers are unlikely to be successful and there is no legal reason for police not to arrest him before the challenges are exhausted.

The court order before the police is already clear and Zuma’s legal challenges were “completely irrelevant” to this obligation, said Dan Mafora, a research officer for the Council for the Advancement of South Africa’s Constitution. , a legal oversight body.

“There would always be a risk that there would be no political will to carry out the order,” Mafora said. “Obviously, it is detrimental to the ANC government to have to arrest a former president… They try to spend the dollar as long as possible.”

The party was shaken by a show of strength from Zuma’s allies outside his rural estate in KwaZulu-Natal over the weekend. Members challenged the official ban on meetings under South African blockade rules to give party colors and stand in front of police in Nkandla.

The ANC remained divided over Zuma’s fate on Tuesday. In a statement, the party condemned the “counter-revolutionary calls for violence and even civil war” on Zuma’s property and criticized Zuma’s attacks on the judiciary.

“Any attempt to respond to legal and judicial issues through threats and acts of violence, from anywhere, is unpleasant,” the party said.

But the ANC also supported the challenge of Zuma’s order. Jessie Duarte, the party’s deputy secretary general, said at a news conference that the former president “was exploring all available legal avenues to eliminate or reduce the prison sentence.”

“We hope Comrade Zuma’s lawsuit is successful,” Duarte added.