South Africa’s Zuma asks regional court to stop his arrest
South Africa’s former President Jacob Zuma has asked a regional court to block his arrest as he seeks an interdict to prevent police from arresting him.
The development came on Tuesday, a week after the Constitutional Court handed down a 15-month jail term to Zuma for contempt of court after he defied an order to appear at a corruption inquiry hearing earlier this year.
The court had ordered police to arrest Zuma by the end of Wednesday if he did not hand himself in, sparking an angry reaction from Zuma’s supporters and exposing deep divisions in the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party.
In legal arguments before the Pietermaritzburg High Court, Zuma’s lawyer called for an interdict until the Constitutional Court hears Zuma’s “rescission application” on July 12.
Senior ANC official Jessie Duarte asserted that Zuma was exploring every legal avenue to have his prison sentence commuted or removed altogether. She told a news conference that the judiciary must be left to make its own decisions, but “we would hope that comrade Zuma’s court application will be successful.”
Meanwhile, hundreds of Zuma’s supporters, some of them armed, gathered outside his rural home on Sunday to hear him hit out against the judges that sentenced him, comparing them to the white minority rulers he fought during the anti-apartheid struggle.
However, the crowds had dispersed by Tuesday and just a few of his supporters stood at the entrance to his home.
The corruption inquiry, chaired by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, has been investigating charges of graft against Zuma in his time in power from 2009 to 2018. The former South African president has denied wrongdoing, and claims that Zondo has personal motives.
In a letter sent to Zondo, top police officials said they would hold back from arresting Zuma “pending the finalization of the litigation” from Zondo.
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