Eight judges from the Constitutional Court, the defense, and various actors took turns debating the legality of the procedure.

The priority of Dali Mpofu, Jacob Zuma's lawyer, is the release of his client. " He is 79 years old, suffers from comorbidities. Former president Zuma is presented by no one as representing a risk. Whether he serves his sentence now or in a few months or whenever will make no difference. It is simply cruelty. It is cruel and degrading punishment for him to remain waiting for the outcome of the procedure that will be favorable to him or not ", the lawyer said.

The defense repeatedly reminded the court that Jacob Zuma's rights must be respected like those of any other citizen, questioning the procedure. Is it normal for Jacob Zuma to go directly to prison without even being tried, arguing repeatedly about "errors" and "irregularities"? An argument with the ultimate objective of obtaining the release of the former president.

But the former president repeatedly refused to participate in judicial proceedings, which notably led him to this situation, recalled judge Majiedt. " We have an applicant who conscientiously refused to participate in any procedure. He was invited three times, but he declined or refused. And now we are asked to review our judgment which was made with care ".

Many technical and legal points were raised. The Constitutional Court finally closed its hearing Monday evening without providing further clarity on the timeline for delivering its decision.

Violence, looting, fires

But this matter now extends beyond the simple confines of courtrooms. In KwaZulu-Natal, violence erupted from Friday, July 9 and spread to Johannesburg. Initially, it was the incarceration of the former president that sparked this violence. But very quickly, the demonstrations turned into looting and fires. Economic despair and frustration linked to restrictions imposed by a third wave of COVID-19 greatly aggravated the situation.

In response, the military was deployed to these two regions. In a statement published Monday, the government stated that " the South African National Defense Force (SANDF) has begun the pre-deployment processes and procedures to assist law enforcement forces deployed respectively in the Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces, to ease the unrest that has gripped the two provinces over the last few days. "

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