MK party legal counsel Dali Mpofu SC pointed out similarities between Zuma’s case and that of the late anti-apartheid stalwart Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.
Arguing before the court on Monday, the
Madikizela-Mandela was an ANC candidate for the National Assembly in the 2009 elections, but she, like Zuma, had been sentenced by a court to more than 12 months’ imprisonment without the option of a fine., Madikizela-Mandela was, on appeal in 2004, given a 3½-year prison sentence, wholly suspended, after being found guilty of fraud.
“It seems to me that one has to strain the language of the section to come to the conclusion that completion of the sentence must be read to include the completion of the suspension,”a person who commits a more serious offence for which he or she serves a prison term of 12 months would be eligible to hold public office much earlier than a person who did not actually serve a prison term, but his or her sentence suspended for a period of five years, for example.
“The point of the matter is that the synonyms for remission are forgiveness in the biblical sense, cancellation, extinguishing and set-aside. The legal fact of remission is to reduce a sentence… The President has the power to pardon even the grossest serial killer,” Mpofu said. “In South Africa, more than any other country, we should be extremely cautious before we deny the political rights of anybody. I do not have to tell this court about the reasons for that. The reason we are where we are is because people were denied the opportunity to stand for political office, and that is why we have a Bill of Rights.
Many observers have questioned the reasoning behind the Electoral Court’s ruling on Zuma’s eligibility to stand for public office.
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