[DEBATE] : Weekender Editorial on Zuma

[Sean Jacobs]

High court ruling proves integrity of SA's judiciary is intact

DURING the trial of Schabir Shaik, supporters of African National  
Congress (ANC) president Jacob Zuma complained bitterly that it was as  
if it was he who was on trial.


Friday's ruling in the Pietermaritzburg High Court elicited feelings  
of déj€ vu: the case was ostensibly about Zuma and whether the  
decision to charge him with fraud, corruption, racketeering and money  
laundering was arrived at fairly. Yet it was President Thabo Mbeki and  
some of his administration's most senior members who emerged looking  
guilty.


What might have gone down in history as a day of rare triumph for  
Mbeki after Zimbabwe's warring factions finally came to an agreement  
on power sharing, now seems likely to be the beginning of the end of  
his political career. A legacy that was on the brink of being salvaged  
against all odds, has now surely been dashed on the rocks of  
vindictive ambition.


Judge Chris Nicholson stressed that, in ruling that the National  
Prosecuting Authority (NPA) should have allowed Zuma to make  
representations before he was recharged, he was not passing judgment  
on Zuma's guilt or innocence. That means it is theoretically possible  
for the NPA to go back to the drawing board and follow the correct  
procedures before charging Zuma for a third time.

However, the likelihood of this happening is surely slim . The judge  
was scathing in his assessment not only of Mbeki and his willingness  
to influence decisions of the prosecuting authority for political  
reasons, but of the NPA — especially former head Bulelani Ngcuka, who  
infamously declined to prosecute Zuma along with Shaik despite  
claiming to have a "prima facie" case — and former justice minister  
Penuell Maduna, who condoned it.


Nicholson's verdict does not supersede Zuma's parallel court  
application to have the charges against him dropped permanently, but  
his findings have surely strengthened Zuma's legal hand significantly.  
If the NPA decides to recharge Zuma, it will now almost certainly mean  
dragging before court a sitting president who has been found to be a  
victim of a political conspiracy.


It seems there was a conspiracy after all, but confined to ANC members  
rather than the opposition, media and judiciary — as some of the  
alliance's less responsible leaders allege.


The ANC's response was constrained and dignified, with little sign of  
the triumphalism that might have been expected, given the level of  
emotion that has been attached to the Zuma trial. However, the new  
leadership of the party would be well advised to bear in mind that  
Zuma has not been cleared of all wrongdoing.

If he is not recharged, it will be because of procedural errors and  
the political machinations of some of its most senior past leaders,  
not necessarily because the arms deal and related subcontracts were  
clean.


Nicholson ruled that he did not have the powers to order that a  
commission of inquiry be appointed to investigate the arms deal, but  
suggested that this would be in the interests of the country. The ANC  
should seriously consider the wisdom of his advice .


The decision to prosecute Zuma has divided SA , bringing into sharp  
focus the willingness of people on both sides of the divide to  
undermine essential democratic institutions such as the judiciary to  
achieve political ends.

It is now incumbent on those who accused Zuma's supporters of raping  
the judiciary to prove their own democratic credentials by accepting  
Nicholson's judgment unreservedly. By the same token, the judge's pro- 
Zuma ruling is food for thought for those who insisted he could not  
possibly get a fair trial.


This should be seen as an opportunity for SA to reflect on the  
principles of our democracy, respect for the rule of law and the need  
to safeguard the independence of all our institutions, especially the  
judiciary. Above all, it is a time for all South Africans actively to  
seek to heal the wounds we have afflicted on ourselves over the torrid  
past few years.