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The Constitutional Court will hear the Electoral Commission of South Africa's (IEC) challenge over former president Jacob Zuma’s eligibility to serve in the National Assembly on 10 May - just 19 days before South Africa's national elections.
In directions issued on Sunday, Deputy Chief Justice Mandisa Maya set a tight timetable for the hearing of the urgent case, which will decide whether the Constitutional Court's contempt finding against Zuma and the 15-month sentence it imposed on him, disqualifies him from serving as an MP for the newly formed uMkhonto weSizwe Party.
Section 47(1)(e) of the Constitution disqualifies anyone who "is convicted of an offence and sentenced to more than 12 months imprisonment without the option of a fine" from serving in the National Assembly but adds that "no one may be regarded as having been sentenced until an appeal against the conviction or sentence has been determined, or until the time for an appeal has expired".
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In a ruling released on Friday, the Electoral Court found that – because Zuma did not have the ability to appeal the sentence imposed on him by the apex court – it did not constitute a "sentence" under section 47(1)(e) of the Constitution.
A majority of the court's judges also found President Cyril Ramaphosa's decision to grant a remission of sentence to thousands of inmates to "address prison overcrowding", thereby conveniently ensuring that Zuma was immediately released from prison after he was forced to return because his medical parole was found to be unlawful, had thus reduced his sentence to three months.
This shorter sentence would mean Zuma could serve as an MP.
The IEC is seeking to appeal those findings.
