The head of a South African judicial inquiry into state corruption said he would apply for former South African president Jacob Zuma to be held in contempt of court for ignoring a summons to testify, and for him to be jailed if he is found guilty.
Ignoring a summons “is very serious, because if it is allowed to prevail, there will be lawlessness and chaos in the courts,” South African Deputy Chief Judge Raymond Zondo said on Monday after Zuma failed to appear at a hearing of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry Into Allegations of State Capture in Johannesburg.
“The commission will approach the Constitutional Court [of South Africa] and ask it to impose a term of imprisonment if it finds he is guilty of contempt,” Zondo said.
Photo: Reuters
Zuma’s refusal to attend the hearing is his latest attempt to subvert the authority of his successor, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, whose efforts to stem graft have been undermined by a faction within the ruling African National Congress (ANC) headed by officials aligned with the ex-president.
While the authorities need to show commitment to upholding the rule of law, arresting Zuma risks widening rifts within the ANC and stoking unrest in his home province of KwaZulu-Natal, where he retains strong support.
Zuma, 78, was scheduled to testify on Monday after the Constitutional Court on Jan. 28 ruled that he must appear before Zondo’s panel.
Zuma said he had had a close personal relationship with the judge and filed a separate lawsuit seeking to force Zondo to recuse himself on the grounds that he was biased.
“It is not the authority of the Constitutional Court that I reject, but its abuse by a few judges,” Zuma said in an e-mailed statement on Monday. “I have presented myself to the Zondo Commission twice and therefore there was no factual justification for the order given by the Constitutional Court. None whatsoever.”
Zuma “is not entitled to refuse to appear before the commission,” Zondo said. “We should all be subject to the same rules.”
The government has estimated that more than 500 billion rand (US$34.5 billion) was stolen from state coffers during Zuma’s nine-year rule, and at least 40 witnesses who have appeared before Zondo over the past three years have implicated the ex-president in aiding and abetting the looting spree.
“As you sharpen your pens to condemn me, I reiterate that I stand by my earlier statement and will not appear before a process that is not impartial,” Zuma said.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was