South Africa court rules that National Assembly failed to sanction Zuma

29 Décembre 2017

Cape Town, South Africa,  December 29 (Infosplusgabon) - The Constitutional Court on Friday ruled that the National Assembly failed to put in place mechanisms to hold President Jacob Zuma accountable for squandering public money on the upgrade to his multi-million dollar private residence.

“We conclude that the National Assembly did not hold the President to account as per the Constitution. It failed to perform its duty including its obligation to hold the President accountable,” noted Justice Chris Jafta in the ruling.

Three opposition parties – the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), Congress of the People (Cope) and the United Democratic Movement (UDM) – took the matter to court after Parliamentary Speaker Baleka Mbete failed to initiate impeachment proceedings against Zuma for misusing public funds and for failing to implement Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s remedial actions.

Madonsela’s 2014 report noted that the funds that went into upgrading Zuma’s home had not all been rightfully used as they included construction of a swimming pool, cattle kraal and amphitheatre. She said Zuma was obligated to pay back the excessive expenditure.

In an interesting twist, Chief Justice Mogoeng noted that he disagreed with his colleagues in their ruling, saying the majority judgment “is a text book case of judicial overreach, a constitutionally impermissible intrusion by the judiciary into the exclusive domain of Parliament”.

Nevertheless, Friday's ruling puts the matter back in Parliament where MPs could have Zuma recalled. The President was politically weakened earlier this month after being replaced as leader of the ruling African National Congress by Cyril Ramaphosa who has vowed to clamp down on corruption.

FIN/INFOSPLUSGABON/AZE/GABON 2017

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