lesegoth

The EFF Limpopo Provincial Chairperson Commissar Lawrence Mapoulo and Provincial Secretary Commissar Kgothatso Mogoane led EFF ground forces to Polokwane High Court in support of the CIC and the President of the EFF Julius Sello Malema for a pre-sentencing hearing stemming.

Adv Tembeka Ngcukaitobi: “We are asking for a non-custodial punishment, and no one can sensibly say that other forms of punishment do not constitute punishment...you have a range of penal options that would reflect the society’s disapproval.” This is quite interesting coming from Adv Ngcukaitobi. In 2021, during the Zondo Commission/Jacob Zuma ConCourt proceedings, Ngcukaitobi explicitly told the court that the two years imprisonment sought by the Zondo commission was a serious penalty that took into consideration Zuma’s seniority and political standing. He further said the court should consider Zuma’s influence in society and the public nature of his disobedience. And on the question of a suspended sentence, Ngcukaitobi was unambiguous: “The question really is how long Mr Zuma should go to prison for? That he should go to prison should be clear.” To reiterate, in the Julius Malema case today, Ngcukaitobi is arguing that a custodial sentence is not the only option, that there’s a range of penal options available and that imprisonment actually achieves the opposite of what society wants. Yet in the Zuma matter, his position was the exact reverse. He told that court that a fine was out of the question, and that imprisonment was a “clear, effective remedy.” He specifically argued that a suspended sentence was inappropriate for Zuma, and that the only real question was how long Zuma should go to prison, not whether he should. So, the same advocate who argued there was essentially one appropriate punishment, i.e. direct imprisonment for Zuma, is now criticising the prosecution for allegedly thinking there is only one punishment for Malema. In Zuma’s case, whom he stringently presented as a former head of state, defying the highest court in the land, Ngcukaitobi pushed for the harshest custodial outcome available, using Zuma’s status as an aggravating factor. In Malema’s case, he is now arguing that imprisonment is counterproductive and that a person’s status should be irrelevant.

U.S marines in Cape Town??