Shaik before stirring

Pardon me... Shaik wants a presidential pardon. Cartoon sourced from Mail & Guardian.


BEING the President of South Africa or any country comes with power and a number of prerogatives.

Chapter Five of the Constitution deals with some presidential duties and prerogatives of the head of state. Section 84(j) states that President Jacob Zuma, just like his predecessors, has the power or function to pardon or reprieve offenders, remit any fines, penal ties or forfeitures. So for a President to grant a pardon to a criminal is not unconstitutional. It is in keeping with his constitutional obligations as the head of the executive. But the Constitution, in section 83(c), enjoins Zuma to act in a way that “promotes the unity of the nation and that which will advance the Republic”.

As everyone is aware, Zuma’s former financial adviser and backer, Schabir Shaik, has applied for a presidential pardon. Shaik, it must be pointed out, is a certified (not in mental terms, it must be made clear) criminal with a fraud conviction. That is why he is exercising his constitutional right to apply for a presidential pardon as a citizen of South Africa.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with Shaik seeking a presidential par don. But there is everything wrong with Zuma being the final arbiter in whether or not to grant to grant Shaik presiden tial pardon. Nor should the whole Zuma administration be in a position to partake in the decision-making here, for that matter.

This is a case of very naked conflict of interest. Upon convicting Shaik, Judge Hilary Squires found that he and Zuma had a mutually beneficial relationship. As they say, it takes two to tango, so common sense dictates that Zuma ought to have been tried with Shaik during his case. It is quite baffling or boggles the mind why this never happened.

Former President Thabo Mbeki fired Zuma in the wake of the adverse ruling against Shaik. Although the judgment had no bearing on Zuma’s innocence or guilt, he was more like tried in absentia because he was never accorded an opportunity to take to the stand.

Shaik is a close friend and ally of Zuma. In fact, Zuma has a good rap port with the Shaik family, which in cludes the likes of Mo, the spy boss. Zuma is clearly indebted to the Shaik family for his rise to the highest office in the land, and even more so, it would appear, to Schabir, a man who has been laid bare as a fraudster and a greedy criminal who would boast about and use his political connections to advance his narrow business interests.

Shaik has been exposed as a man who cares less about the poor and more about unscrupulously amassing wealth using prominent public officials’ names or political connections. It’s becoming clearer every day that loyalty, just like in the Mbeki administration, reigns supreme in the Zuma administration.

The current government couldn’t care less about its integrity and credibil ity. As long as you are in with the right crowd you will be rewarded hand somely and treated like a king, even if you’re an unrepentant criminal who was broken out of jail on a bogus medical parole.

Should Shaik be granted a presidential pardon (as is likely to happen) it would be a crying shame. Zuma must avoid misusing his presidential prerogative to appease his pal.

Zuma mustn’t let his “un-shaik–en” loyalty to Schabir Shaik cloud his judgment.

Cedric Mboyisa is political editor of The Citizen. This column first appeared in The Citizen.