Former president Jacob Zuma is not expected in court on Monday for the resumption of the arms deal corruption trial, when Pietermaritzburg High Court judge Piet Koen is expected to reveal whether he will continue to preside over the matter.
Zuma and his co-accused, French company Thales, face charges related to fraud, corruption and money laundering in connection with the arms deal that took place in the 1990s.
Judge Koen postponed the matter in October saying the issue of his involvement as presiding judge in the trial, needed to be addressed in the interests of justice.
These issues included whether an application for leave to appeal Zuma filed to the Constitutional Court was properly lodged and had the effect of suspending the operation of his ruling in which he dismissed a special plea by Zuma that advocate Billy Downer lacked title to lead the prosecution.
“These developments have brought into sharp focus whether it is proper that I decide one or more of these issues, including eventually also such issues as to whether Mr Zuma will receive a constitutionally fair trial at the end of the day, having regard to findings I have made and views I have expressed.”
Zuma’s legal team has argued that the resumption of the trial with Downer as lead prosecutor was untenable given the private prosecution Zuma has instituted against him for allegedly breaching the National Prosecuting Authority Act.
Downer has denied the charge and filed an application for it to be dismissed as an abuse of court process.
Last year, the former president opened a criminal case against Downer, alleging that the State’s lead prosecutor in Zuma’s long-running corruption trial, had unlawfully leaked his medical records, including a doctor’s note to journalist Karen Maughan.
Judge Koen denied Zuma leave to appeal in February and the Supreme Court of Appeal did the same in March.
Zuma then filed an application to then SCA president, Judge Mandisa Maya, but this was rejected.
Jacob Zuma Foundation spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi confirmed that the former president would not be in court on Monday.
“There are two purposes for the hearing on Monday, to hear the judge’s ruling on whether he will continue to preside over the matter and if he is to continue, then when the matter will be heard.”