The SAPS has approached Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo on guidance as to what to do, in light of the two legal challenges by former president Jacob Zuma in an attempt to avoid being jailed.
In a letter sent by the state attorney to Justice Zondo on Monday, the SAPS said it was not inclined to arrest Zuma at this stage.
Acting on the instructions of Police Minister Bheki Cele and national SAPS commissioner General Khehla Sitole, the state attorney pointed out that the situation regarding Zuma was unique.
Zuma had five days since the court order to hand himself over and start serving his prison sentence for contempt of court last week. That, however, lapsed on Sunday, and the police subsequently had three days to ensure that Zuma was delivered to jail. That deadline ends at midnight.
The state attorney said in the letter that Zuma’s two court applications – for the stay of his arrest, which was heard yesterday in the Pietermaritzburg High Court, pending his rescission application before the Constitutional Court – would only be concluded at a later stage.
This, the state attorney said, while the police were supposed to deliver him to prison by midnight.
“It is our clients’ view that the pending litigation has a direct impact on the action that they should take in terms of the court order, as the court order has become the subject of litigation.
“Our clients are fully aware that the litigation steps taken by Mr Zuma cannot be categorized as appeal processes, which in usual cases would have the effect of suspending the operation of a court order.
“In view of the unique situation presented by the developments and the legal matrix involved, our clients will, out of respect for the unfolding litigation processes, hold further actions they are expected to take … pending the finalization of the litigation,” the letter read.
The state attorney said that alternatively, it would wait for direction in this regard from Justice Zondo. Cele’s spokesperson, Lirandzu Themba, said they were still waiting on an answer from Justice Zondo. She said that they had urgently turned to the acting chief justice for guidance, as this was not an ordinary situation.
She said that as time was running out to present Zuma to jail, they urgently needed clarity on how to act.
“This is a special case given the pending legal challenges. We will need to take direction from the acting chief justice,” she said.
The spokesperson for the office of the chief justice, Nathi Mncube, meanwhile would not confirm whether Justice Zondo had received the letter or whether he had made any decision on the matter yet.
“Such a letter, if it exists, is not a public document. We can talk about documents lodged at court, but not letters written to judges,” he said.
Brigadier Vish Naidoo, for Sitole, would also not elaborate on the letter, although he did confirm that it had been sent to Justice Zondo.
While he would not say whether they had received an answer yet, he confirmed that it was a letter seeking clarity on the way forward regarding the Zuma issue.
-Pretoria News
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