Durban - FORMER president Jacob Zuma was in consultation with his legal team this weekend regarding the next step to try to remove lead prosecutor, Billy Downer, from his arms deal corruption case.
This week the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) President, Mandisa Maya, dismissed his plea to have Downer removed from his corruption case. Zuma faces 16 charges relating to 783 payments he allegedly received from his former financial adviser, Schabir Shaik.
He faces another case of an alleged R500 000 bribe that the state said Shaik handled for him from a French arms company. In March SCA judges dismissed Zuma’s application to set aside a Pietermaritzburg High Court ruling turning down his request for the removal of Downer.
He later forwarded an application to Maya, who dismissed the case last week. The Jacob Zuma Foundation has since expressed its dissatisfaction regarding Maya’s decision. Foundation spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi claimed there were four separate petitions that were submitted and only one of the petitions was taken into consideration by the two SCA judges. “We review that as sufficiently exceptional.
“The foundation, therefore, respectfully disagrees with the ruling on the technical question of exceptional circumstances.” Manyi said the foundation welcomed that the judgment was not leaked to “known enemies of the former President”, adding that the judiciary showed integrity despite the challenges faced with the administrative side.
“The Department of Justice is called upon to attend to the administrative weaknesses in the office of the registrar. “The foundation applauds the SCA for delivering the outcome within two months despite administrative challenges,” he said.
However, Manyi claimed the delays were due to Shamilla Botohi, the head of the National Prosecuting Authority’s refusal to sign and issue a certified announcement regarding their request. “This is in stark contrast to the unjustifiable delays we have been subjected to by advocate Batohi who acts like a hired gun in charge of the NPA.
“Batohi has been refusing to sign and issue a single page to certify her decision announcement as far as April 8, not to prosecute Downer and his accomplices. “This is obviously a deliberate act to protect Downer and the inevitable private prosecution. “The Stalingrad tactics of Batohi undermines the warning of confidence in the criminal justice system,” adding that their complaint was not solely based on the judgment outcome, but also on how Batohi handled the case.
“The complaint is not so much about the outcome which we disagree with which can always be challenged, it is about an obviously predetermined outcome which is unfair and unjust such as the disgraceful conduct and manipulation of justice by advocate Batohi, adding that legal advice will be sought regarding the issue.”
Mthunzi Mhaga, spokesperson for the NPA, welcomed the SCA judgment dismissing the reconsideration application by the former president. “We will now focus on ensuring that the trial resumes on August 15,” Mhaga said. Asked for a response to the allegations that Batohi refused to sign and issue a certified announcement regarding their request to not be prosecuted by Downer, Mhaga said: “The Director of Public Prosecutions in KwaZulu-Natal is seized with the matter and applying her mind to their request for nolle prosequi certificate.”
Political commentator Professor Bheki Mngomezulu said the biggest challenge in the matter was that anything that had to do with Zuma was not viewed like other cases. Mngomezulu said it did not mean that if Downer was removed from this position there was no other person who could do it.
“Hypothetically speaking, if Downer dies does it mean that the case is going to stop? This is the question they should be asking.” He said Maya was also under pressure as she was previously nominated to be the next chief justice, even though, President Cyril Ramaphosa ended up appointing Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.
“So anything untoward that she does will therefore put her at a disadvantage. “I’m not surprised that her decision was in line with what (Judge) Piet Koen made in Pietermaritzburg. “I didn’t expect anything different, because this case concerns Zuma.”
SUNDAY TRIBUNE