Former president Jacob Zuma. Picture: Phill Magakoe/AFP
Former president Jacob Zuma will finally have his day in court when his corruption trial returns to the Pietermaritzburg High Court this week − 20 years after he was first charged with arms deal corruption.
“The matter State v Jacob Zuma and Thales is set down to be heard in open court in the KwaZulu-Natal Division of the High Court, Pietermaritzburg, on 29 August 2024,” the Judiciary said on Tuesday.
Proceedings are expected to be broadcast live.
In May, Judge Nkosinathi Chili confirmed that KwaZulu-Natal High Court Judge President Thoba Portia Poyo-Dlwati had allocated dates from April to September 2025 for Zuma’s trial.
Zuma was declared trial-ready three years ago, but the matter has been delayed by his repeated appeals and efforts to force the removal of prosecutor Billy Downer from the matter.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga at the time said the state hoped there would be no further delays in the case.
Mhaga said they can never rule out the possibility of Zuma mounting another hurdle to delay his arms deals corruption trial.
“We can never rule out the possibility of Mr Zuma mounting another hurdle for this matter not to proceed. It has been a trend, it’s on record, even by Judge Kuhn that this appears to be a delaying tactic on their part, that is Mr Zuma rather.”
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Mhaga said legal recourse does not allow Zuma to appeal the dismissal and that the state is ready to proceed with the trial.
“It does not in the sense that the judgment itself is not dispositive of the matter. They can still deal with this matter at the end of the trial, but let them allow Mr Zuma to have his day in court. He’s been pleading publicly that he wants his day in court so that he can prove his innocence,” Mhaga said.
The state in court papers said it is adamant Zuma’s appeals is “manifestly an abuse of court process” and yet another manifestation of his “Stalingrad defence strategy” that it contends has “the improper intent and purpose of delaying justice in this matter, as evidenced by successive litigation since 2005 aimed at postponing this trial”.
“This prosecution has endured delays exceeding 15 years,” the state said.
The 81-year-old Zuma and French arms manufacturer Thales are facing multiple charges, including fraud‚ corruption, money laundering, and racketeering, in connection with the controversial multibillion-rand arms deal procurement concluded in the late 1990s while Zuma was vice-president.
It is the state’s case that Zuma was kept on a corrupt retainer by his former financial advisor, Schabir Shaik, who then used his political clout to further his own business interests.
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