South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma on Friday said he was ready to be imprisoned for defying a Constitutional Court order to return to the hearings of the Commission of Inquiry into high-level corruption which he has boycotted since late last year.
In a 2,000-word statement, a defiant Zuma said he was ready to go to prison as “a conscientious objector” for he had no intention appearing before a “corrupt judicial system” which was biased against him.
In the statement, Zuma said he had lost trust in South African judges, including those of the Constitutional Court, which ordered him to return to the state capture commission to respond to 36 questions prepared for him from testimony from witnesses.
On Thursday, the commission’s lawyer, Thembeka Ngcukaitobi, pleaded with the Constitutional Court to slap Zuma with a two-year sentence for contempt of court.
Zuma did not participate in Thursday’s court’s hearing, whose decision has been reserved to a later date.
Following the hearing, Zuma maintained that he would never appear before the commission because inquiry chairman Raymond Zondo was allegedly biased against him during previous hearing sessions.
“I will serve the term of imprisonment to be imposed by the Constitutional Court that has already become the focus point to defend our democracy campaign.
“All I am saying is that I am not afraid of going to jail, as I was not under the apartheid system. However, I will not subject myself to an oppressive and unjust court system,” the former president said.
He said even if the court sends his “physical body” behind bars, his “spirit is free to speak against the injustice of the imprisonment.”
“Our people – ordinary people – will gain their voice and when they do, not even the Constitutional Court, will be spared of the rigorous questions (from them),” he added.
NM/jn/APA