The Supreme Court of Appeal judgment allowing the Democratic Alliance access to the records used by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to drop the corruption case against President Jacob Zuma has once again laid bare the divisions in the ANC-led alliance.
On the one hand, the ANC and the South African Communist Party (SACP) criticised the judiciary. On the other, labour federation Cosatu and the ANC Youth League, which were Zuma’s most vocal supporters in the run-up to the Polokwane elective conference in 2007 but have since largely lost their appetite for another Zuma term at the helm, were ambivalent in their reaction.
The reaction by the ANC and the SACP is a reflection of the hardening of attitudes by some leaders in the tripartite alliance towards the judiciary.
But, at the same time, the more restrained reaction by the youth league and Cosatu shows that Zuma does not enjoy the same kind of unconditional support from his allies as he did at the time when they were in agreement that the corruption charges against him were politically motivated and engineered by former president Thabo Mbeki. The youth league has denied involvement in the prosecution of Zuma by the NPA.
ANC reacts
The ANC reacted angrily to the appeal court judgment this week, saying it showed how “democracy can be undermined by simply approaching courts to reverse any decisions arrived at by a qualified organ of state”.
Echoing the ANC’s irritation with the outcome of the appeal court ruling, the SACP said the judgment exposed the Democratic Alliance’s strategy of destabilising the government through the courts.
“To the SACP, the DA wants nothing more than to gain political mileage on technicalities,” said spokesperson Malesela Maleka. “Having lost the elections, the DA will stop at nothing to use our courts and institutions of democracy to convince people politically, after it has failed to do so democratically, hence its concerted effort to spin the Supreme Court of Appeal outcomes. The SACP hopes our courts are, in the administration of justice, alive to this agenda.”
The court ruling has far-reaching implications for Zuma and could completely derail his campaign to be re-elected as ANC president at the party’s elective conference in December.
Zuma’s political rivals in the ANC are already lobbying for his deputy, Kgalema Motlanthe, to replace him.
Although the ANC Youth League condemned the DA’s court challenge, it believes Zuma should use the opportunity to clear his name in court once and for all.
ANCYL wants Zuma to face the music
A national youth league leader told the Mail & Guardian it hoped that, this time, Zuma would not use “delaying tactics” because the case was likely to damage the ANC’s image ahead of the 2014 national elections.
Mpumalanga provincial secretary Lucky Ndinisa intimated that Zuma should have his day in court and cautioned against attacking the judiciary.
“The judges are independent. Let them do their work. The outcome [of the appeal court case] is in the best interest of the country. Let the law take its course,” he said.
Reacting to the judgment, Cosatu condemned the DA, but said it accepted that the law had to take its course. Cosatu’s restrained position came just weeks after its secretary general, Zwelinzima Vavi, warned against “blindly” supporting Zuma in his battle with the DA.
The Sunday Independent reported details of Vavi’s political report to the federation’s central executive committee, in which he said the federation could no longer use political excuses to protect Zuma.
Vavi denounces corrupt leaders
In his report, Vavi reportedly warned that the federation should not find itself supporting corrupt leaders simply because they belong to the right faction, while condemning such acts by members of another faction on the basis that “we have to support our guys regardless of their actions”.
“Cosatu saluted the withdrawal of the charges against the president of the ANC on the basis that he could not get a fair trial,” Vavi was quoted as saying.
“What posture should Cosatu take at the current moment and why? What will be the rationale behind the stance we take?
“It is crucial to know that the abuse of state power that we decried back in 2005 can no longer be sustained as power has changed hands and the levers of the state are now firmly in control of comrade JZ.”
Cosatu’s central executive committee did not make Vavi’s report public because some of its leaders who support Zuma’s re-election differ with Vavi.
Both the ANC and the government have indicated that they might challenge the appeal court’s judgment and approach the Constitutional Court for recourse.
This may cause the matter to drag on until after the Mangaung elective conference in December, but some ANC leaders told the M&G that they would raise their concern about the impact of the case on the ANC’s image.
“It’s a moral test for the ANC,” said an ANC leader, who did not want to be named. “They must walk the talk on the issue of corruption. Zuma is [supposed to be] the custodian of the Constitution and if he fails to uphold his oath, who will?”
Zille hails victory for country
DA leader Helen Zille this week hailed the judgment and said it was not a victory for the DA, but for the Constitution and the country.
Meanwhile, former crime intelligence chief Mulangi Mphego distanced himself from leaking the tapes to Zuma’s lawyer, Michael Hulley. The leak happened on his watch.
Mphego said he had been “surprised and shocked” to learn of Mpshe’s decision to drop the charges on the basis of the spy tapes and said he had not been asked to verify the authenticity of the tapes.
He would not comment on whether the crime intelligence division had provided them to the National Intelligence Agency, citing legal restrictions.