South Africans will have to wait a while to hear whether they will be able to follow the unravelling of the Jacob Zuma court drama directly in their living rooms.

Judge Herbert Msimang was due to hand down judgement yesterday in the KwaZulu-Natal high court regarding the SABC’s request to broadcast parts of the trial, but nothing came of it in the end ­ at the SABC’s request.

The SABC asked Msimang to wait until the Constitutional Court has handed down judgement in a similar case before making his decision known.

The SABC’s legal team got a big surprise first thing yesterday morning when legal representatives for both Zuma and arms manufacturer Thint indicated that they intended opposing the application.

At the previous court session on July 31, Thint and Zuma said they would not oppose the application to broadcast the proceedings.

But yesterday, Advocate Kessie Naidu, SC, announced on behalf of Thint that they had changed their minds *1. If Msimang agreed to the broadcast they would first want to state their case.

The SABC did not expect that, as they had received no correspondence from Thint’s and Zuma’s legal teams about the matter, but said, in any case, that Msimang did not have to pass judgement immediately as he had planned.

The SABC’s application to broadcast the appeal of Schabir Shaik, Zuma’s former financial advisor, against his conviction on charges of fraud and corruption, was turned down by the Supreme Court of Appeals and is now before the Constitutional Court.

With judgement expected before September 25 (the start of the appeal case) the SABC says Msimang could be guided by that judgement.

With acknowledgements to Jan-Jan Joubert, Adriaan Basson and The Witness.