![]() Importantly, the ruling signals that the judiciary is at last wearying of the former president’s Stalingrad defence - a myriad of basically frivolous court applications designed to delay his appearance in court on criminal charges arising from the 1999 arms deal. He said that the former president was being ‘treated with laws that are not in existence … on those notorious Zuma laws”.Īn aside: Manyi was this week sworn in as an MP for the Economic Freedom Fighters, just a month after joining the party. Mzwanele Manyi, spokesperson for the Zuma Foundation, labelled it a “bizarre” judgment and a “travesty of justice”. There’s of course been predictable indignation from the Zuma cabal. And aside from its sturdy legal legs, this judgment is a politically robust creature - delivered by a full Bench of two women and one man, representing three ethnicities - which should easily survive the appeal that has already been announced. Theirs is a solidly constructed judgment that will undoubtedly in the future influence courts towards the side of the angels. They also reaffirmed the right of civil society organisations to be admitted as amici curiae, friends of the court, no matter how partisan they are, as long as they have useful legal insights to contribute. On the upside, judges Gregory Kruger, Jacqui Henriques and Mokgere Masipa tipped their hats to the importance of media freedom and placed curbs on the ability of the rich to litigate to avoid journalistic scrutiny and, in this matter, to prevent government officials from carrying out their duties. Unscrupulous politicians have over the past decade increasingly abused the court process, using the flimsiest of legal pretexts to delay or avoid justice. _STEADY_PAYWALL_ ![]() While the judgment dealt the former president a well-deserved bloody nose and reiterated some fundamental constitutional precepts, it was a reminder that the judicial system is under sustained pressure. ![]() That’s the tenor of the response to Jacob Zuma’s humiliation this week in the Pietermaritzburg High Court, where the National Prosecuting Authority’s Billy Downer and News24’s Karyn Maughan succeeded in their application to set aside his private prosecution of them. ![]() And in a nation burdened with woes, a cheering reminder that the judiciary remains solid. William Saunderson-Meyer writes on the ex-President's humiliation in his case against Billy Downer and Karyn MaughanĪ massive boost for press freedom. ![]()
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