AfriForum says it will request to join former president Jacob Zuma's rescission application that is set for a Constitutional Court hearing on July 12, 2021.
The organisation, which disagrees with the decision of the highest court in South Africa, to hear Zuma's application, said, on Sunday, that it believes the former president has received special treatment from the apex court.
"AfriForum has ordered its legal team to start preparations to join the court application of former president Jacob Zuma - as a friend of the court (amicus curiae) in order to demonstrate that the special treatment Mr Zuma is currently receiving by (sic) the court is a violation of the principle that everyone should be treated as equal before the law," AfriForum said.
The organisation's CEO Kallie Kriel said ordinary citizens would not be able to receive the same treatment that Zuma has been afforded by the court.
“While the Constitutional Court’s initial ruling against Zuma was widely applauded as a victory for the principle of equality before the law, the latest developments have caused serious damage to the credibility of the judiciary,” Kriel said.
The apex court issued its contempt ruling, last week, and ordered that Zuma should serve a prison sentence of 15-months for his failure to appear before the Zondo commission.
Zuma wants the court to rescind its issued prison sentence when the apex court hearing sits Monday week.
In his papers filed in the Concourt, Zuma said there were valid grounds for him to not be sentenced to an effective jail term.
“I am advised that before I walk through the prison doors to serve my sentence as the first direct prisoner of the Constitutional Court under our Constitutional democracy, it will not be futile to make one last attempt to invite the Constitutional Court to relook its decision and to merely reassess whether it has acted within the constitution or, erroneously, beyond the powers vested in the court by the constitution.
“The peculiarity and uniqueness of these unprecedented circumstances, the implications thereof on my personal freedom and the health challenges facing the country should all combine to militate in favour of the serious entertainment of this matter,” said Zuma in his papers.