Durban — The chairperson of the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal said that the Provincial Executive Committee believed that the decision of the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) to arrest former president Jacob Zuma could have been averted if Judge Raymond Zondo had recused himself.
Zikalala was speaking at the 9th ANC KZN provincial conference currently underway at the Olive Convention Centre in Durban.
Delivering his political report of the province, he said that the year 2021 was characterised by a painful period with the arrest of the former head of state which followed a ruling by the ConCourt.
“We are deeply pained by the decision of the apex court which we believe could have been averted if president Zuma’s wish for the Commission Chair to recuse himself had been granted.”
Zikalala stated that the sentence for the beloved elderly statesman was harsh and the sentence imposed deviated from established prescripts where Zuma was sentenced to 15 months as opposed to the six months’ provision in the Commissions Act.
“Before he handed himself in for incarceration, we registered our concerns as this PEC frankly to the national leadership and cautioned about its potential danger to the people of the province and the lasting wounds it could inflict.
“When he handed himself in, we continued to engage and appealed for a permanent solution including even the consideration of a presidential pardon now that Nxamalala (Zuma) was sadly put behind bars.”
Reflecting on the protests and the looting that erupted during the July unrest of 2021, he said the explosion of the scale of violence and its character had never been experienced in democratic South Africa.
“The unrest was characterised by destruction and looting which left over 354 people dead and thousands more injured. Infrastructure was destroyed; business properties and equipment were damaged while business operations were halted.”
Zikalala said the conference had to look beyond the obvious and be honest with themselves because it was clear that the unrest was symptomatic of deep, underlying challenges of inequality and poverty that needed to be addressed.
Daily News