Jacob Zuma contempt of court

Jacob Zuma contempt of court

Jacob Zuma's third and final day of testimony at the Zondo Commission, 17 July 2019
Charges	Contempt of court
Sentence	15 months' imprisonment
Disputants	Jacob Zuma Zondo Commission
Court	Constitutional Court of South Africa

This article is part of a series about Jacob Zuma
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Jacob Zuma, the former President of South Africa, was imprisoned on 7 July 2021 following a finding by the Constitutional Court of South Africa that he was guilty of contempt of court. The charges originated in Zuma's refusal to provide testimony to Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo's judicial commission of inquiry into alleged state capture. During 2021, the Constitutional Court handed down three related decisions.

In Secretary of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector including Organs of State v Zuma (known as Zuma I), the Zondo Commission applied urgently for a court order compelling Zuma to comply with the commission's summons and provide evidence before it. Zuma declined to oppose the application, and the Constitutional Court granted the order on 28 January 2021. The unanimous judgment, a straightforward application of the Commissions Act, 1947, was written by Justice Chris Jafta.

However, Zuma violated the court's order the following month, when he openly refused to comply with a summons to appear before the commission. Thus, on 29 June 2021, in Secretary of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector including Organs of State v Zuma and Others (Zuma II), the Constitutional Court sentenced Zuma to 15 months' imprisonment for contempt of court. The majority judgment was written by Acting Deputy Chief Justice Sisi Khampepe, who held that it was justifiable for the court to impose a punitive, unsuspended prison sentence in order to vindicate its own integrity and uphold the rule of law. A two-member minority of the court, comprising Justices Chris Jafta and Leona Theron, argued that the majority's order trenched on Zuma's constitutional right to a fair trial.

Zuma, who had again declined to oppose the commission's application, submitted to arrest in Estcourt, KwaZulu-Natal on 7 July; observers linked his detention to an outbreak of civil unrest later the same week. At the same time, he applied to the Constitutional Court for the rescission of its order in Zuma II. On 17 September 2021, in Zuma v Secretary of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector Including Organs of State and Others (Zuma III), the Constitutional Court dismissed that application, holding that Zuma's case did not meet the standard set for rescission in the Uniform Rules of Court and did not justify a departure from the doctrines of res judicata and functus officio. Justice Khampepe again wrote on behalf of a seven-member majority, and Justices Jafta and Theron again dissented in deference to Zuma's constitutional rights.