President Jacob Zuma has not had a good start to the weekend. This morning, a report revealed that he doesn’t own the property that’s being upgraded, and now the Constitutional Court has ruled Zuma’s appointment of Menzi Simelane as National Director of Public Prosecutions is invalid.

This morning, a report shed light on the fact that Zumaville, the compound receiving some R240 million worth of upgrades, doesn’t actually belong to President Zuma.

Then, a little while ago, Zuma’s morning got worse when the Constitutional court ruled that Zuma’s appointment of Simelane was invalid.

Handing down judgement, Judge Zak Yacoob said:

The requirement that the NDPP must be a fit and proper person for appointment with due regard to his conscientiousness and integrity was not a matter to be determined according to the objective opinion of the president.

The court was ruling on an application by the Democratic Alliance to confirm a Supreme Court of Appeal ruling that Simelane’s appointment was invalid.

However, the judge also said that actions during Simelane’s tenure were not invalid:

The decisions taken and acts performed by Mr Menzi Simelane and actions by the [NDPP] are not invalid merely because of the invalidity of his appointment.

Writing for Eyewitness News, Stephen Grootes said this “is huge, a massive defeat for the president,” and explained where the dishonesty stemmed from:

The Justice Ministry previously argued that the Supreme Court of Appeal’s decision placed an illegal restriction on Zuma’s powers, while Simelane himself said the court was wrong to claim Zuma’s decision had to be reasonable and procedurally fair.

The Ginwala inquiry, chaired by Frene Ginwala, was established to determine whether Simelane’s predecessor Vusi Pikoli was fit enough to hold office.

The inquiry found that Simelane’s conduct as the then justice department director general was “irregular” and that his testimony was “contradictory” and lacked basis in fact or in law.

[Sources: Mail and Guardian, TimesLive]