S African Prez Ramaphosa wins interdict against his predecessor Zuma


PTI | Johannesburg | Updated: 17-01-2023 00:59 IST | Created: 17-01-2023 00:55 IST
S African Prez Ramaphosa wins interdict against his predecessor Zuma
File photo. Image Credit: Twitter(@SAgovnews)
  • Country:
  • South Africa

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday won his request to interdict the private prosecution brought against him by his predecessor Jacob Zuma from proceeding until the application to set aside the private prosecution is heard.

In an unprecedented legal situation, Zuma, who was ousted from his position by his ruling African National Congress in 2018, had planned to prosecute Ramaphosa privately on criminal charges, allegedly for being an accessory after the fact in the case Zuma filed against top state prosecutor, Advocate Billy Downer and journalist Karyn Maughan.

Zuma claims that the two leaked his medical records, which were used as evidence in his arms deal corruption trial which has been going on for almost two decades now.

Zuma and French company Thales have been facing criminal charges relating to alleged corruption in the 1999 arms deal.

The charges against Zuma include racketeering and money laundering, and twelve counts of fraud.

Zuma was first indicted on the charges in June 2005, but attempts to prosecute him have been delayed by numerous legal challenges on his side.

Analysts said this latest step by Zuma was yet another step in the many that he has taken to defer the trial as long as possible.

Zuma’s private prosecution would have been heard in court this Thursday, but Ramaphosa filed an application for an urgent interdict to stop this.

A full bench of the South Gauteng High Court Division, led by Deputy Judge President Roland Sutherland, found that the urgency had been proven by President Ramaphosa’s lawyers.

The court granted the interdict.

''As to the balance of convenience, the respondent suffers no harm if there was a delay in the private prosecution in order to debate the controversies alluded to in this judgment,'' Sutherland said while delivering the judgment on Monday.

''As mentioned earlier, the trial of the alleged principal offenders has yet to begin. There, conviction is a necessary condition for criminal liability by the applicant,'' Sutherland said.

Reacting in a statement, Ramaphosa’s spokesman Vincent Magwenya said the court had affirmed all of the President’s key contentions, namely on the jurisdiction of the court to hear the interdict application.

“The court further found in the President’s favour on the violation of rights to personal freedom based on a prima facie defective summons.

“The judgement confirms the position of the President that the private prosecution is motivated by the ulterior purpose based on spurious and unfounded charges, constitutes an abuse of private prosecution provisions and demonstrates flagrant disregard for the law,” Magwenya added.

Ironically, Ramaphosa, who rose to power after Zuma’s ousting, was tasked to go to his house in the early hours of Valentine’s Day in 2018 to inform him of the ANC decision to recall him as president after Zuma repeatedly refused to step down.

This was after a huge public outcry about Zuma’s alleged corruption.

As Deputy president at the time, Ramaphosa assumed the Presidency. After the subsequent General Elections in 2020, Ramaphosa was elected as president for a five-year term.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Give Feedback