Real show of force by Zuma
JACOB Zuma finally had his day in court yesterday – the first of many, none of which will be as fleeting nor as painless. He appeared in the Durban High Court yesterday on what veteran lead prosecutor Billy Dower wryly noted to Judge Themba Sishi was merely a recontinuation of the 2005 case that saw Zuma’s erstwhile financial adviser Schabir Shaik ultimately sentenced to 15 years on corruption charges.
Yesterday, though, was more than a legal formality, it marked a very real show of force by the former president. His many supporters ignored the ANC’s order not to drag the party into the issue by wearing official green, black and gold regalia, while there were a number of interesting political leaders who chose to be in Durban to show their support – and illustrate the uphill battle President Cyril Ramaphosa faces to keep the fractious ANC together.
To veteran Zuma watchers yesterday’s proceedings, from the obligatory singing of
Awuleth’mshini wam’ (Bring me my machine gun) to his customary playing the victim card, would have seemed like a flashback to the Johannesburg High Court in 2006, when Zuma was on trial for the rape of Fezekile Ntsukela Kuzwayo, better known then as Khwezi.
Zuma was found not guilty in that trial, but the collateral damage wrought by many of today’s leaders who now deeply regret their support and their concomitant actions, was very real to the advancement of gender relations and to combating gender based violence.
Those same threats exist right now, but the stakes are far higher than 12 years ago. The mob will not be quiet, not when it is in the interest of the man they are so vigorously defending to whip them up into a frenzy of outrage. There will be a concerted effort to try this case in the court of public opinion, spinning different narratives in the hope of a different outcome. This is a singularly dangerous gambit. The law must take its course, the process must be followed, justice must be done without fear, favour or prejudice. Anybody perverting this for a particular end must be punished.