8 November 2007
The SACP has noted the judgement delivered by the Supreme Court of Appeal today in the matter between the State and the ANC Deputy President Comrade Jacob Zuma in respect of the search and seizure warrants and the Mauritian request for mutual legal assistance.
However, what worries the SACP is the manner in which the details of the judgement found its way to the public before the official pronouncement. As we have said before, this indeed does cast doubt on the credibility and the independence of the institutions of our criminal justice system. We call on the SCA to explain how this happened.
We are still concerned that the length of the investigation into Cde Zuma, and the manner in which this investigation has been conducted, compromises the credibility of this process and only acts to reinforce a widely held perception that this is indeed a political trial.
As we point out on our open letter to ANC members that “there are worrying indications that sensitive sectors of the state like intelligence, prosecutions and the public broadcaster have been polluted by political factionalism”, this whole saga can only serve to reinforce such observations.
Without delving into the technical legal aspects of this matter, the whole act of charging and then conducting raids only afterwards, as well as the raids into the offices of the lawyers raise fundamental and very serious questions about the practice of the rule of law in our emerging democracy, thus setting dangerous precedents. It is for these reasons, including the unfair and unjust treatment of the Deputy President of the ANC, as pronounced earlier by the Public `Protector and the Pietermaritzburg High Court, that this matter must be fully canvassed by the Constitutional Court.
The SACP calls on all our people to remain vigilant about the conduct of the institutions of our criminal justice system, and also respect the principle of innocence unless established otherwise through a credible legal process.
We wish to reaffirm as resolved by the ANC NGC of 2005, the alliance 10-aside of August 2005 and constitutional structures of the SACP, our full support to the ANC Deputy President during this trying times.
Let us remain focused on the tasks of the National Democratic Revolution during this critical period and challenges facing our movement. This should not act as a diversion.
Issued by the SACP.
For information Contact:
Malesela Maleka
SACP Spokesperson – 082 226 1802