Business leaders and politicians have reacted to the Constitutional Court’s decision on Jacob Zuma. Picture: Itumeleng English/ Independent Newspaper
Business Unity South Africa has welcomed the Constitutional Court ruling which effectively bars former president Jacob Zuma from contesting the May 29 elections due to his prison sentence.
Busa’s chief executive Cas Coovadia said on Monday that they respected the unanimous ruling by the apex court which was delivered by Justice Leona Theron.
“We respect the Constitution and thus also respect the decision of the Constitutional Court. We would expect all concerned parties to adhere to the decision and to enable a peaceful, free and fair election on May 29 and ensure a responsible and open campaign,” he said.
Earlier on Monday, the Constitutional Court overruled the Electoral Court’s decision that Zuma was eligible to be a member of the National Assembly. It also found Zuma’s remission of sentence did not reduce his 15 months prison sentence to three months.
Despite the ConCourt ruling, Zuma will still be on the ballot paper, but he cannot contest a parliamentary seat in the general elections.
Zuma’s name will be removed from the list of candidates nominated by the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) as he was not eligible to be a member of the National Assembly.
IOL News also reached out to Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) for comment, but representatives for chief executive Busisiwe Mavuso said she could not comment on the ruling.
The markets and the rand appeared not to be impacted by the ruling as the rand was trading at around R18.28 to the US dollar at 4pm.
The rand had a strong position on Monday when compared to the dollar and other global currencies. The rand was trading at around R18.15 to the dollar at 10:05am on Monday.
According to Reuters, the rand had its strongest levels since August 2023 and this helped improve risk sentiment.
President Cyril Ramaphosa remarked "it is what it is" upon hearing the decision by the Constitutional Court.
"The court has ruled and as I often said, that is the highest court in the land and we have given the judiciary the right to arbitrate disputes among us in terms of our constitution. So they have come out with a ruling and I note that ruling and that is what it is," Ramaphosa added.
MK Party secretary-general Sihle Ngubane said that the decision by the court does not change that the former president will be on the ballot paper come election day.
The South Africa Communist Party (SACP) also welcomed the ruling and said this served as clarity that other "convicted law breakers" who fall into the same category are not eligible to be members of parliament.
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) said that it will comply with Constitutional Court’s judgment.
“The Electoral Commission notes the judgment by the Constitutional Court, clarifying the role of the Commission in qualifying candidates nominated to stand for election to the National Assembly.
“Now that the matter has been settled by the highest Court and given that the constitutional uncertainties have been clarified, the Commission can continue with final preparations for free and fair 2024 National and Provincial Elections.”
The IEC said that to avoid confusion, the Commission reiterated that the judgment will not affect the ballot papers for the 2024 elections.
“The photograph of Jacob Zuma will remain in the cluster of identifiers of the MK Party. The name of Jacob Zuma will, however, be removed from the list of candidates nominated by MK Party,” the IEC said.
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