ZUMA ‘RETHINKS’ THE CONSTITUTION AS IT ‘SUBVERTS THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE’

The former president has made no secret of his disdain for the country’s judiciary; however, he took his discontent a step further in the meeting he had with the ANC leaders, including President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The crowd who gathered to support former President Jacob Zuma is seen reflected in his glasses as he waits to speak after appearing on corruption charges at the Durban High Court on 6 April 2018. Picture: Ihsaan Haffejee/Eyewitness News.

Theto Mahlakoana 

JOHANNESBURG - Former President Jacob Zuma said he had a rethink about the country’s Constitution, which he claimed subverted the will of the people.

This is revealed in leaked notes on Sunday, released under Zuma’s letterhead, of a meeting with African National Congress (ANC) top officials last month.

Zuma met with the leaders of his party in the aftermath of the Constitutional Court’s ruling that he must be jailed for two years after he failed to present himself to the state capture commission as summonsed.

The former president has made no secret of his disdain for the country’s judiciary; however, he took his discontent a step further in the meeting he had with the ANC leaders, including President Cyril Ramaphosa.

In it, he questions the role of the Constitutional Court, asking how 11 people have “so many powers”.

He told the officials that as things stood, the will of the people who elect officials to Parliament was being undermined by the judiciary as its decisions and actions were “being arrested through the constitution”.

While serving as president, Zuma vowed to protect and uphold the Constitution.

However, as his legal battles deepen, he has launched a barrage of attacks and not only against the country’s democratic system.