The Congress of the People (Cope) on Thursday used the incarceration of Abathembu king Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo to reiterate its call for President Jacob Zuma to “face prosecution in open court”. The party’s Dennis Bloem said Dalindyebo had “used up all possible legal avenues at his disposal to show his innocence and stay out of jail”.“In spite of his being the king of the Abathembu people‚ he has respected the law of the country. He spent last night behind bars‚” he said.The king handed himself over to Correctional Services on Wednesday after Mthatha High Court Judge Nozuko Mjali dismissed his bid to extend his bail.Dalindyebo had tried many avenues to avoid his 12-year sentence for culpable homicide‚ kidnapping and arson‚ including approaching the Supreme Court of Appeal and the Constitutional Court. He also petitioned the justice minister to have his conviction overturned.“Cope reminds Zuma that nobody is above the law. If the king can go to jail for his transgression‚ so must any other important personage in the land who committed a crime and is found guilty in court‚” said Bloem. He said his party wanted the country’s leader “to stop manipulating and damaging the criminal justice system to avoid having his day in court”.“He must answer all of the 700 charges he has tried to wriggle out of through abuse of power and the willing collusion of the whole of the (African National Congress‚ South African Communist Party and the Congress of South African Trade Unions). “His unwillingness to face prosecution in open court is an admission of guilt by fearful and manipulative behaviour.“He must also stop abusing the taxpayers of our country by running up legal expenses which he does not have to pay from his pocket.”Bloem said “the tripartite alliance must urge Zuma to face prosecution because his unending manipulation is damaging to the reputation of our country and it brings the tripartite alliance into serious disrepute”...