Any special deal from the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for African National Congress president Jacob Zuma would destroy, at a stroke, the reputation of the NPA, as well as a key principle underpinning our Constitution — that all are equal before the law, according to Helen Zille, the leader of the Democratic Alliance.
”It is not beyond the realm of possibility that Zuma will pressurise the NPA to drop the charges against him in return for a guarantee that there will be no purge of NPA officials once he becomes state president,” Zille said on Monday. ”This, of course, would amount to political blackmail.”
She pointed out that one of the greatest weaknesses in our Constitution is that the president has the sole power to appoint the head of the NPA.
”We have consistently pointed this out in the past,” she said, ”but now it has turned out to be a critical point, given the direct conflict of interest that Zuma has in this matter.”
She urged the NPA to stand firm in the face of pressure from Zuma and his allies to drop the charges. ”This is not the time to buckle to political pressure,” she said. ”It is an opportunity to show that the institutions designed to limit the ruling party’s power can operate without fear or favour.”
”The NPA, in prosecuting Zuma and other high-profile individuals, such as Jackie Selebi, has demonstrated that it operates without fear, favour or prejudice as it is constitutionally obliged to do,” she said. ”In doing so, the NPA will give everyone hope that we have a robust constitutional democracy and that there is no chance of going down the banana republic path of Zimbabwe.”
She said that reports that Zuma’s legal team will be making a representation to the NPA indicate Zuma’s increasing desperation. He and his allies are casting around for any way out — political, legal or otherwise — to ensure that he avoids facing his day in court.
Court protests
Meanwhile, KwaZulu-Natal Judge President Vuka Tshabalala criticised protests by Zuma’s supporters at courts across the province, South African Broadcasting Corporation news reported on Friday.
He said the courts should be left to do their work, adding that pickets would not influence the outcome of the courts in any way.
Protests and pickets were staged at magistrate’s courts in parts of KwaZulu-Natal on Friday in a campaign aimed at forcing the court to drop fraud and corruption charges against Zuma.
The protests were arranged by the ANC’s eThekwini region.
Tshabalala said the pickets would not force the justice system to give in to the demands of demonstrators. — I-Net Bridge, Sapa