South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma ruled out...

South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma ruled out testing public opinion on the death penalty as part of the 2004 general elections. Replying to a question in the National Assembly in Cape Town, he said the law and government policy on the matter was clear. South Africa' s Constitutional Court, in its ruling that the death penalty was unconstitutional, stated "it is only if there is a willingness to protect the worst and the weakest amongst us that all of us can be secure that our own rights will be protected." Zuma said that, "taking somebody's life is not a right that we must exercise.It is God's right. It is God who gives life and must take life."