Confident of a damning verdict against President Jacob Zuma by the Constitutional Court, Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema on Wednesday night said he hoped the African National Congress (ANC) will fire the president over the Nkandla saga.
“We are just spoilt with blessing. This is a very nice week, tomorrow we are in the Constitutional Court to receive victory.
We’re to receive victory because we don’t use gut feelings. We use thorough research and reading,” Malema told journalists shortly after being conferred with a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of South Africa.
“We make cogent arguments and we always present superior logic on any matter. That’s why it’s very rare that we falter on the way. It’s (been) a good week.”
Malema said he hoped after the Constitutional Court ruling “the ANC would come to its proper senses”.
“You cannot say a president has broken the oath of office … then you say he has to continue to be the president of the country, even when the Constitutional Court says he has no capacity to protect the Constitution. Let’s hope Jackson Mthembu is not just talk, talk,” said Malema, referring to newly appointed ANC Chief Whip in parliament.
“History is a nice thing. It is now presenting the ANC with an opportunity to correct itself through the judgement of the Constitutional Court.”
He said the EFF would call a press briefing soon after the Constitutional Court ruling is delivered.
The Constitutional Court will rule on Thursday in the Nkandla case which has seen Zuma make an eleventh hour offer to repay a portion of the state money spent on his private home.
The senior registrar’s clerk at the Constitutional Court sent a letter to parties to the case, which pits the Democratic Alliance and the EFF, against Zuma, to say the ruling would be handed down at 10am.
Public Protector Thuli Madonsela found that luxuries added to the property at state expense, including a swimming pool, chicken run, cattle kraal and amphitheatre, were not essential for presidential security and directed Zuma to foot a reasonable portion of the R216-million cost of the upgrade at the rural KwaZulu-Natal residence.
For more than a year, Zuma refused to pay back the money and so the EFF and DA took him and Speaker of Parliament, Baleka Mbete, to court.
– African News Agency (ANA)