The legal ramifications of the Constitutional Court judgment sentencing former president Jacob Zuma to 15 months in jail will resonate far into the future. But its political implications are a weighty matter too, particularly for President Cyril Ramaphosa as he attempts to "reform" the ruling ANC.

Acting chief justice Sisi Khampepe offered an apt opening to a devastating judgment that will now send the giggling, gyrating godfather of Nkandla to prison for contempt of court. Reading the 66-page majority judgment, Khampepe quoted SA’s first democratic president, Nelson Mandela: "We expect you to stand on guard not only against direct assault on the principles of the constitution, but against insidious corrosion."..

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