“It is the lofty and lonely work of the judiciary to uphold, protect and apply the Constitution and the law at all costs”

Former President Jacob Zuma has been found guilty of the crime of contempt of court by the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the apex court in the land, and sentenced to 15 months imprisonment, without suspension.

 

In February this year Former President Zuma defied a court order by the Constitutional Court to appear before the Zondo Commission in the Inquiry into the State Capture. The Inquiry is investigating allegations of corruption during Zuma’s nine-year rule. The Commission requested that the Constitutional Court order Zuma to appear before the Commission and answer its questions. The order was granted but Zuma defied the order and failed to present himself to the Commission. The Commission laid a criminal complaint of contempt of court against Mr Zuma earlier this year.

 

In its judgment delivered by Justice Khampepe, the Court ruled that Mr Zuma is guilty of contempt of court, that his conduct was ‘vexatious, conduct reprehensible, it smacks of malice’. The Court found that Zuma was aware of the consequences of his conduct, and his disobedience was calculated and male fide. There was accordingly, no doubt in the Court’s eyes that Mr Zuma is guilty of contempt. The Court sentenced Zuma to 15 months imprisonment, ordering him to hand himself over to police within five calendar days of today. The Court also ordered that if Zuma does not hand himself over, the minister of police and national commissioner must, within 3 days, take all the necessary steps in law to ensure Zuma is delivered to a correctional centre.

 

Zuma’s contempt of the highest Court in the land, and subsequent attacks on the integrity of the Constitutional Court, have challenged the authority of the Constitutional Court and undermined its integrity. Justice Khampepe commented, ‘Never before has the authority and the legitimacy of the Constitutional Court has come under the level of attack as it has from Mr Zuma’.

The Constitutional Court has a duty to defend the Constitution and the rule of law – the fundamental concept that no man or woman is above the law. In addition to defying its order, Zuma has made a number of ‘scandalous’ remarks about the Constitutional Court over the past few months. Zuma’s conduct was deemed ‘A series of direct assaults, as well as calculated and insidious efforts launched by Mr Zuma to corrode its [the Court’s] legitimacy’ which ‘besieged’ the Constitutional Court. Khampepe noted that Zuma’s conduct in defying a court order undermines the rule of law, the authority of the Court, and may inspire others to do the same. This, coupled with the extraordinary circumstances of the case and Zuma’s past conduct, caused the Court to order a sentence of 15 months imprisonment, without suspension. The order is, furthermore, not subject to appeal.

About the author

Megan started her articles with Dunsters in 2020 and is a graduate of the University of Cape Town (B.COM PPE, LLB). Megan is in the commercial team at Dunsters and enjoys working on drafting all kinds of contracts as may suit our clients’ needs. Her areas of interest lie broadly in the commercial sphere, with a more specialised focus on technology and the law. Megan also writes and oversees the editing of our insights and articles.

In her spare time Megan is Chairperson of the Cape Town Candidate Attorneys’ Association, loves to paint and prefers to spend her weekends outdoors. Cold-water swimming, running and hiking, she is keen on all the outdoor activities Cape Town has to offer.

We use cookies to analyse website usage and other technical information to improve the functionality of our website   View more
Cookies settings
Accept
Privacy & Cookie policy
Privacy & Cookies policy
Cookie name Active
This policy informs you how we will use your personal information, by using our services and/or website you consent to our use of your personal information for the purposes described herein.
  1. DEFINITIONS
  •  “PERSONAL INFORMATION”
    • Personal Information means information relating to an identifiable, living, natural person, and where it is applicable, an identifiable, existing juristic person, including, but not limited to, name and surname; identification number; physical address; contact information such as an email address and telephone number.
  • “DATA SUBJECT”
    • Data Subject means the person to whom personal information relates.
  • “RESPONSIBLE PARTY”
    • Responsible Party means a public or private body or any other person which, alone or in conjunction with others, determines the purpose of and means for processing personal information.
  • “IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION”
    • Identification Information means information that can be used to identify the data subject.
  • “COMPLIANCE INFORMATION”
    • Compliance Information means information that is needed by Dunsters Attorneys for us to be compliant with relevant laws including the Financial Intelligence Centre Act “FICA” and regulatory standards and government orders such as Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Know-Your-Client (KYC) and Counter-Terrorist Financing (CTF).
  •  “COMMUNICATION INFORMATION”
    • Communication Information includes all correspondence such as emails and messages.
  • “FINANCIAL INFORMATION”
    • Financial information means any information relating to payment of invoices, including but not limited to banking information and account details
  1. PERSONAL INFORMATION COLLECTED
  • We may collect website usage and other technical information such as details of your visits to our website through cookies and other tracking technologies. Cookies are small data files stored by your computer to help improve functionality or tailor information to provide visitors with more relevant pages.
  • The information we collect may include information provided to us through your initial correspondence, possibly including:
    • Name and Surname
    • Email address
    • Contact numbers; and/or
  • This may also include information that we may have requested, and you subsequently provided, including, but not limited to:
    • Compliance Information
    • Identification Information
    • Communication Information
    • Financial Information
    • Other Personal Information
  • Reasons for collection of your personal information will be explained to you when we collect/request the information. We may request certain personal information to comply with global industry regulatory standards, local regulatory standards or government orders.
  • You, the data subject, consent to our use of your information in line with this privacy policy and/or any terms of engagement you may sign with us. If you wish to revoke your consent, please email enquiries@dunster.co.za .
  1. ACQUISITION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
  • We acquire information from you directly, save where accessible from publicly available sources.
  • Information may be collected through various platforms, including:
    • Our onboarding process with you
    • Email engagement
    • Telephonic engagement
    • In-person engagement
    • Cookies
  1. PURPOSE OF COLLECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
    • Your personal information may be collected and saved on our system for the following purposes:
      • To enable us to provide legal services.
      • To send news, updates and marketing information.
      • To review job applications.
      • To comply with legal requirements
    • Your personal information will not be used for the following purposes:
      • We will never use your personal information for direct marketing purposes without your consent (you may opt-out of our newsletter at any time)
      • We will never disclose your personal information to another third party without permission from yourself, unless it is required for fulfilment of our legal services or as mandated by law.
  1. RIGHTS OF DATA SUBJECTS
  • Right of the data subject under the POPI Act include, but are not limited to:
    • Having access to their recorded personal information
    • Requesting correction or amendment to their personal information and to have information corrected or amended
    • Requesting deletion or destruction of personal information from the responsible party’s system
    • Objecting to the processing of personal information
    • Submitting a complaint to the Regulator regarding the alleged interference with the protection of the personal information of any data subject or submitting a complaint to the Regulator (POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za)
    • Instituting civil proceedings regarding the alleged interference with the protection of their personal information.
  1. RETENTION OF RECORDS
  • We will retain your information for the period required by law.
  • Where we retain your contact information for any period other than may be prescribed by law, we retain this information to keep you updated of our various offerings and news. By not unsubscribing from newsletter, you consent to us retaining your personal information on our records indefinitely, for the purposes explained above, including, to keep you informed about news and updates pertaining to Dunsters Attorneys Inc.
  1. SECURITY AND DATA PROTECTION
  • We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to secure the integrity of your personal information and use accepted technological standards to prevent unauthorised access to or disclosure of your personal information, and protect your personal information from misuse, loss, alteration and destruction.
  • The measures that are taken in order to protect your personal information include:
    • Physical measures: access to physical copies of your information is controlled using strict protocol.
    • Electronic measures: firewalls and password protection
  1. DISCLAIMER AND USER OBLIGATIONS
  • While we will take all reasonable steps to ensure the security of your data and personal information according to industry standards, it is not possible to guarantee the complete security of all information provided at all times.
  • We will notify you as soon as reasonably practicable of any breach of security, loss of or damage to your personal information.
  • Data subjects are responsible for taking reasonable precautions to safeguard their personal information.
  • Although we endeavour to ensure your information is as correct as possible, you are responsible for notifying us of any changes to your data or personal information in respect of the services provided and/or your account with us.
  • We will not be held liable for losses of any nature which are due to incorrect data or personal information provided by users in respect of the service provided.
  • We will not be held liable for any loss or damage arising from a security breach or disclosure of your personal information or data, to the maximum extent permitted by law.
  • We shall not be liable for any damage or interruptions caused by any computer viruses or other malicious code that may affect your computer or other equipment, or any phishing, spoofing or other attack.
  • If you suspect that your personal information has been compromised, or that there has been unauthorised use of your email address by any person, or any other violations to the security of the website, please contact us.
Save settings
Cookies settings