– Naadiya Adams (@Miss_Naadiya)

Former President Jacob Zuma has denounced the Constitutional Court ruling which sentenced the former president to 15 months behind bars, deeming Judge Sisi Khampepe’s judgement “judicially emotional and angry, and not consistent with our Constitution.”

In a statement released on Twitter just before midnight on Wednesday, the Jacob Zuma Foundation said the former president had the right to equal protection of the law as does every other citizen. The foundation said that the panel of judges did not act independently or without bias and therefore did not act in line with the South African Constitution.

“The characterization of our Patron by the majority panel paints a picture of a very angry panel of judges. We concur with the view of other justices who said the Constitutional Court majority acted contrary to the rule of law,” read the statement.

Hope the 1st page is clearer? https://t.co/aO5R7LsAvt pic.twitter.com/pTTMwTvwI6

— JGZuma Foundation (Official) (@JGZ_Foundation) June 30, 2021

The statement went on to describe Zuma’s alleged “attack” on the Constitutional court as “utterly false”, saying that his reaction was only natural for someone who had been slandered and vilified to that extent.

The foundation described the Zondo Commission as “transformed into a slaughterhouse and a forum in which all manner of defamatory allegations have been made against.”

Earlier this year, Zuma failed to comply with a court order to appear before the State Capture Commission and was charged with contempt of court. On June 29^th he was found guilty of contempt of court, and was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment – he has since been given 5 days to hand himself over.

The statement claimed that Zuma had the right not to appear before the commission as the presiding Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo holds a bias against him and he believes the commission would not judge him fairly.

“He sought the recusal of DCJ Zondo on the basis of bias… instead of allowing a lawful judicial process to unfold in the High Court, DCJ Zondo ignored that review court process and lodged an urgent application in the Constitutional Court seeking to hold our Patron in contempt, despite exercising his right to access the courts.”

According to the foundation, Zondo was favoured in the court process.

“The principle of equality before the law was clearly violated, and the Zondo commission was given an advantage in a case that was adjudicated by DCJ Zondo’s colleagues, whom he supervises,” the statement read.

The foundation made no mention of the 15-month jail term handed down to Zuma, and gave no indication of whether or not he would be handing himself over once his five day grace period has ended.

Meanwhile, the support for the former President has gained momentum with many jumping behind his cause. The Umkhonto we Sizwe Military veterans have been seen outside the Nkandla homestead ahead of the arrest.

In an interview with Radio Islam, North-West University’s Andre Duvenhage predicted how the next few days may unfold as Zuma’s deadline to hand himself over etches closer.

According to Duvenhage, Zuma will evade much of his “trouble”

“I think if he attends court for 3 or 4 months he may be due for parole, that’s the one reason. The second one, if he can provide a medical certificate, like Shabir Shaik, he may be in house arrest and not be in jail and he can sit at Nkandla throughout the time as well,” says Duvehage.

Duvenhage believes Zuma will use this as an opportunity to mobilize support and while they will not be able to stop Zuma from being taken by police, it will have damaging effects for the ANC and deepen the faction trenches even further.