Advocate Dali Mpofu, who represents Mr Zuma and the MK party, argued that the test of plausibility of bias should be seen from the perspective of the litigant, in this case former president Jacob Zuma.
This comes after a Constitutional Court bench asked Mpofu about the reasonable apprehension test. The test for whether bias can be rationally understood is that the suspicion of bias must be that of a reasonable person.
The Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party and the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) are facing off in the Constitutional Court. This comes after the IEC appealed against an Electoral Tribunal ruling that ruled MK party leader Jacob Zuma was eligible to stand as a candidate in this month's elections.
This was despite the Constitutional Court sentencing Zuma to 15 months in prison in June 2021.
Justice Mbuyiseli Madranga asked Mr Mpofu, who had called for the removal of six Supreme Court judges he presided over three years ago for contempt of court.
Court hears IEC v Electoral Tribunal on legitimacy of Zuma's candidacy for public office
Earlier this year, the commission disqualified Mr Zuma from the ruling. Three years ago, Mr Zuma launched a counter-application to have the six judges presiding over the contempt of court revoked.
Mr Zuma claimed the Constitutional Court did not have a quorum to hear the Electoral Commission's appeal.
The IEC argues that the appeal does not require an interpretation of Mr Zuma's contempt of court and therefore there is no basis for seeking the judge's reversal.
Defense lawyer Dali Mpofu, who represents Zuma and the MK party, said: “If you were to spend months in prison, in solitary confinement, believing that you shouldn't be there because you're not on trial. If you were locked up, believe this is the most unfair thing to solve, if you believe that and by the way he still believes that, you of all people It is that you will be treated worse than PW Botha. Therefore, any reasonable person should be judged on its own merits, not by me, but by your honor, Judge Madranga, by the Omnibus. Not anyone. No, that's his belief.”
Madranga: Are we close to making tests subjective?
Mpofu: No, it's not. I am not a righteous madranga, please.
Mpofu also argues that the Constitutional Court judges will have to independently interpret the 2021 contempt of court judgment against Zuma.
Mr Mpofu said: “No one can deny that the two points regarding the conviction and the two points regarding the sentencing lead to the following question: Is the conviction handed down by this court a conviction for the purposes of Article 2? ” 147 was also the verdict. So why is their interpretation of the ruling included? That's certainly true. ”
