South Africa’s body politic has been tested to its very core. The UDM accepts the judgement. 

The former head of the Scorpions had said earlier that he was doubtful of a winnable case against Zuma despite having a prima facie case. During his judgement Justice Squires has found that there is clear evidence of a corruptor (Mr Shaik) and a corruptee (Mr Zuma). I think the time is ripe for the State to charge Mr Zuma now after the evidence has been tested and accepted before a court of law. The President of the country would then need to decide whether a senior member of the Executive can continue to serve whilst such serious charges are being considered before a court of law. The experience elsewhere in similar circumstances is that when the balance of probabilities is sufficient, the President should ask Mr Zuma to vacate his office. What is required now is decisive leadership. The President must now prove the commitment he made last week in Parliament, where he said that Government would no longer tolerate members of the Executive who abused their positions for personal gain.

In light of this verdict the arms deal is thrown into question. Evidence has been accepted that not only did Mr Shaik’s brother inform him beforehand of the tendering processes, he even warned him of a potential threat to one of the arms deals in which Shabir Shaik was a beneficiary. In turn he phoned Mr Zuma to complain about this potential threat. It is significant that in the end Shaik’s company did receive a stake in the arms deal. The implication is that it was as a result of Mr Shaik’s political connections, and to the detriment of a better tender bid. Under such circumstances we would expect a Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the Arms Deal.

The exploitation of BEE by certain ANC connected elites to gain access to economic and taxpayer-funded opportunities have also been demonstrated. It comes at a time when hard questions are being asked about a R11 million donation to the ANC that was sponsored by the taxpayer through PetroSA. This kind of behaviour has no doubt discouraged potential foreign investors.