'Nothing stopping police from arresting Zuma'

DURBAN - Tuesday's decision by Judge Jerome Mnguni of the Pietermaritzburg High Court to withhold his judgment in the urgent application by former president Jacob Zuma to have his arrest put on hold, has left the former head of state vulnerable to arrest.

This is according to Mpumelelo Zikalala of Zikalala Attorneys who spoke to Independent Media shortly after after Mnguni told all three legal parties that he will hand down his judgment on Friday at 11.30am.

Zikalala said that, legally, there was nothing stopping the police moving into Nkandla to arrest Zuma if they wanted.

The Constitutional Court sentenced Zuma to 15 months’ imprisonment on June 29 for contempt of court.

“Technically, yes, the police can nab Zuma because there is no legal instrument stopping them from doing that. In fact, they are obligated to do so as the Concourt ruling on the matter still stands and if they (police) don’t carry it out, they would be in contempt of the court (Concourt),” Zikalala said.

He said one of the mistakes that Zuma’s legal team, led by advocate Dali Mpofu SC, made was that they confused the issue of jurisdiction. He said the issue of court jurisdictions is either by area or by powers.

In the case of Zuma, he said the powers to put his arrest in abeyance lies with the Concourt, not the Pietermaritzburg High Court, which is a junior court in this matter. In that case, Zuma’s legal team should have approached the apex court.