Judicial process is delayed

IT IS NO surprise that Jacob Zuma's legal team has withdrawn their representation at the eleventh hour in his upcoming corruption trial.

This, in many respects, can be perceived as his Stalingrad strategy to further delay the judicial process.

It thereby buys him more time for freedom if he was to be found guilty.

Whatever the reasons for his legal team to make a run for it, which I suspect would not be revealed to the public by the court, I believe this is a travesty of justice, noting the inordinately long time for this matter to come to trial.

As this matter concerns all South Africans who have been affected in one way or another by acts or omissions in the conduct of Zuma while he was president, I believe the reasons should be publici juris.

Now that he has to pay for legal costs of about R25 million out of his own pocket, having lost his appeal for the State to pay his legal bills, it may well be that he will plead poverty, request a postponement for new counsel, or legal aid, and continue to frustrate the legal process.

This cheaper version of the Stalingrad strategy, which has become his hallmark, is evident in Zuma's tactics. I suspect it will eventually become a Stalingrad lite strategy as he runs around with his begging bowl.

While Zuma will probably have to cut his coat to suit his cloth as he contemplates how to prevent his opening gambit in the courtroom, the public, who seek a resolution to this matter, will have to wait.

He will argue that his right to representation cannot be denied - and it must not be.

But with all said and done, it does not take a rocket scientist to see where this latest ploy is headed, as he pursues a form of legal filibuster to stay enshrined in his taxpayer-funded Nkandla homestead.

I suppose ultimately, Zuma will defend to his death, either by natural attrition or possible incarceration, his right to defy any litigation that will ultimately reveal the truth and facts and place him in legal jeopardy. This is with regard to his role as an alleged corrupt governor of this country during his presidency.

To paraphrase Winston Churchill, Zuma may well be saying: "I shall fight them on the beaches, I shall fight on the landing grounds, I shall fight in the fields and in the streets, I shall fight in the hills, I shall never surrender."

NARENDH GANESH

Durban North