Paroled former president Jacob Zuma will find out on Wednesday if his request to appeal against an earlier ruling dismissing his bid to have Advocate Billy Downer SC removed from prosecuting him in the decade’s long corruption case.
Judge Piet Koen will deliver his ruling in the high court tomorrow in Pietermaritzburg, where strict social distancing protocols will be observed.
Zuma, who was released on medical parole in September last year after serving a portion of his 15-month sentence for contempt of court at the Estcourt Correctional Centre, turns 80 on 12 April.
The exact nature of the former president’s illness has never been confirmed.
However, during a court challenge to the former president’s release from prison on medical grounds, his lawyer Advocate Dali Mpofu SC, revealed that Zuma was suffering from a terminal illness.
At the last court appearance at the end of last month, Zuma’s lawyers insisted Downer had no title to prosecute the former president and another court could agree with the assertion.
The defence cited – among other reasons – the leaking of Zuma’s medical records to the media as evidence that Downer has it in for the former president.
Zuma’s other lawyer, Thabani Masuku, also accused the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) of interference with his corruption case.
Masuku said the NPA must be brought to book for their actions.
Prosecutor Andrew Breitenbach, however, said Zuma should not be granted an appeal as this will not be in the interests of justice.
In the main case – that can not proceed until the Downer matter is resolved – Zuma faces charges of corruption, fraud, and money laundering related to the arms purchase in 1999.
The former president is accused of receiving bribes from French arms company Thales through his former financial advisor Schabir Shaik, who was convicted of related charges in 2005.
Shaik was released on medical parole after serving only two years and four months of his 15-year jail term in custody.
Thales is also accused of corruption alongside Zuma.
On Wednesday, all eyes will be on the high court in Pietermaritzburg, where Judge Koen will deliver his ruling on the Downer matter.
