PRESIDENT MAY FACE OVER 800 CHARGES
PRESIDENT MAY FACE OVER 800 CHARGES
South Africa’s Supreme Court of
Appeal ruled on Friday that President Jacob Zuma can face prosecution over
almost 800 charges of corruption relating to a 1990s arms deal.
Zuma had lodged a challenge at the
court in Bloemfontein after a lower court decided in 2016 to reinstate the
charges that were previously discontinued by prosecutors.
“The reasons for discontinuing the
prosecution given do not bear scrutiny,” said Supreme Court judge Eric Leach
who read the ruling.
The opposition Democratic Alliance
party had sought in 12 court appearances since 2009 to reactivate the charges
over controversial post-apartheid military contracts which have dogged Zuma for
much of his time in government.
The president, who is accused of
corruption, fraud, money-laundering and racketeering, has always insisted he is
innocent, Africa Review reports.
Zuma and other government officials
were accused of taking kickbacks from the $5 billion purchase of fighter jets,
patrol boats and other arms manufactured by five European firms, including
British military equipment maker BAE Systems and French company Thales.
Charges were first brought against
Zuma in 2005 but dropped by prosecutors in 2009.
In his reaction to the ruling, Zuma
said he was “disappointed” by a Supreme Court of Appeal decision to uphold a
High Court ruling to reinstate 783 corruption charges filed against him before
he became president.
In a statement from his office, Zuma
said he now expects the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to consider
representations on the case before making decision to prosecute him.
State prosecutors set aside the
charges in April 2009, paving the way for Zuma, who has faced and denied
numerous corruption allegations made since then, to run for president later
that year.
Zuma and the National Prosecuting
Authority (NPA) were appealing against the High Court ruling, made in April
2016.
In his decision to reject their
appeal, Judge Lorimer Leach said it was “irrational” for the NPA to have set
the charges aside.
The NPA has responsibility for
deciding whether to reinstate the charges, which relate to a 30 billion rand (2
billion dollars) government arms deal arranged in the late 1990s.
It was unclear when such a decision
might be taken or if Zuma would approach the Constitutional Court to try to set
aside the Supreme Court’s ruling.
The NPA would need to consider the
judgment, spokesman Luvuyo Mfaku said, adding it would “at all times do the
right thing within the confines of the rule of law and in the interest of
proper administration of justice.”
The rand extended gains against the
dollar after the Supreme Court’s ruling, which was unanimous.
“It is difficult to understand why
the present regime at the NPA considered that the decision to terminate the
prosecution could be defended,” Judge Leach said.