One can only admire speed, efficiency of SA courts in handling political matters

By Daily Revelation Editor

It’s admirable to see the speed and efficiency with which the South African courts move on political matters of public interest in that country, particularly those which are urgent in nature.

In South Africa, former president Jacob Zuma who fell out with his former party, the Africa National Congress (ANC) and its president and also Republican President Cyril Ramaphosa, has made a political comeback forming another political party by the name uMukhoto we Sizwe (MKP). However, his comeback and formation of that party has not gone without incidence, with the ruling ANC challenging in court the use of the name uMukhonto we Sizwe because it was the name used by the political wing of the ANC during the liberation struggle. That matter is still in court.

Besides that, the ANC went further to challenge the registration of the MKP with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) of that country, but they failed in their efforts to do that with the IEC allowing MKP to participate in the elections.

The other challenge involved the ANC challenging the candidature of Zuma in the Electoral Court, which ruled against the IEC’s objection to his candidacy in the upcoming polls, based on his criminal record.

He criticised the IEC for disqualifying him due to his contempt of court conviction in 2021. He insisted that he had committed no crime, saying the IEC had no right to invoke section 47 of the Constitution, which disqualifies a party candidate who was sentenced to more than 12 months in prison without the option of a fine from contesting elections.

Zuma was also confident that the MKP would win the trademark case in the Durban High Court brought by the ANC against the party for using the name and logo of its now-defunct armed wing, uMkhonto weSizwe. He said the MK did not belong to the ANC, but to South Africans as a liberation army.

Compare the happenings in South Africa to the comedy that happens here. Clearly, one can see in South Africa how a truly independent judiciary works. That is a ruling party in South Africa that has been losing case after case against a very popular but fraught candidate in Zuma. One can only admire such independence and speed with which justice is delivered in that country. In Zambia, we have been going around the same Miles Sampa-PF issues for close to eight months now. One is not even sure why such a matter of public importance threatening the very existence of the biggest opposition party has been allowed to drag for this long.

Only a fool who does not understand how matters are handled in Zambia will be left with any doubt what is really happening here.

Going by the South Africa experience and comparing with the Zambian experience, we can assure you that the victories Zuma has won would have been hard to come by if he were participating as a candidate in Zambia. Just consider how long it took to have the MMD matters involving Nevers Mumba and Felix Mutati settled. Look at how long it is taking to have the PF matters settled over a very simple question, was Miles Sampa’s convention constitutional?

It is just hard for the ruling party, especially the President to lose a court case in which they have an interest. Consider the ruling that gave leeway for Edgar Lungu to participate in the 2021 general elections for instance, despite having been sworn in twice into office. All sorts of legal arguments were put forward by legal scholars and general citizenry alike who felt he was not eligible. However, those who have followed Zambian history knew that come rain come sunshine, Edgar was going to stand.

On the PF issues, we shall leave it to those with common sense to discern for themselves how they see matters moving. Maybe Archbishop Emeritus Telesphore Mpundu might be in a position to shed some light on this one.