The Constitutional Court will hand down its ruling on President Jacob Zuma’s failure to pay up for personal benefits gained from the construction at his Nkandla homestead on Thursday morning.

Zuma was taken to the court after he refused to pay, but he back-tracked once there and said he would pay up some money as determined by the auditor general.

Despite this, the court is expected to hand down an order which clarifies its view on the limits of the powers of public protector Thuli Madonsela and similiar independent institutions.

Should the court rule that Zuma and/or parliament failed to fulfill their constitutional duties, the way will be opened for an impeachment hearing which is likely to be severely embarrassing for Zuma.