Zuma says plans for 2025 trial ‘premature’ as he’ll continue fighting for Downer’s removal [VIDEO]

Former president Jacob Zuma has slammed plans for his 2025 arms deal trial as “premature” and confirmed that he will keep fighting for the removal of prosecutor Billy Downer.

Zuma’s corruption trial returned to the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Thursday for a pre-trial hearing.

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 – 20 years after he was first charged.

Watch: Zuma wants reason why his application to remove Downer was dismissed

During proceedings Advocate Dali Mpofu said that Zuma “insisted that he needed to be here” for this hearing, even though his presence here was not required. 

Removal of Downer

Despite multiple courts having rejected Zuma’s various attacks on Downer, Mpofu continues to persist with Zuma’s argument that he should be removed – and effectively contends that the only way he will agree to his trial proceeding will be if the prosecutor is gone. 

“Our instructions are that the matter of the pre-trial and trial dates and proposed trial dates is very much premature given the two outstanding issues. Mr Downer has correctly summarised the situation, except his use of the phrase ‘get rid of me’. Nobody wanted to get rid of him.

“We were exercising our rights to have a fair trial which is a much more serious matter than getting rid of some individual. Those rights to a fair trial, as Mr Downer has correctly pointed out, caused the postponements.”

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Mpofu says ‘NPA has options’

Mpofu argued that the issue of the recusal or non-recusal of Downer is “obviously intertwined and interlinked” with the commencement of the trial. He said the NPA has always had the option of resuming the trial with another prosecutor.

“That’s an option that has been open to it all along, despite their false accusations of so-called Stalingrad [tactics].

“If the NPA wanted to call our bluff, they should have just said ‘oh okay, they’re using this so-called delaying tactic so we’ll just put another prosecutor’. The trial would have been finished by now. But they can’t have their cake and eat it. They can’t want to commence the trial and also retain Mr Downer. They must choose one of the two,” Mpofu argued.

Downer says Zuma can’t pick his prosecutor

However, Downer rejected the argument, saying that it would set a very dangerous precedent if accused persons are allowed to “pick and choose” their prosecutors. 

Zuma’s legal team in May 2021 raised a special plea challenging Downer’s title to prosecute, which was dismissed.

Zuma objected to Downer leading his prosecution on behalf of the NPA, claiming that Downer lacked the title to prosecute him.

The former president then brought another application for Downer’s removal, based largely on the grounds of what he claimed was bias, which was heard in October last year.

In March, Chili once again dismissed Zuma’s bid after finding that the former president failed to show that Downer’s continued presence as his prosecutor would violate his rights to a fair trial.

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Judge will provide reasons in two weeks’ time

Chili did not provide reasons for the decision, saying he will share them in his final judgment at the end of the trial

However, during court proceeding on Thursday, Mpofu argued that that Zuma wanted to “take certain steps” over Chili’s failure to provide him with reasons for his refusal to remove Downer.

Mpofu argued that Zuma is “entitled” to those reasons now, so he can appeal his decision properly. 

“We would humbly request the court to grant former president Jacob Zuma his right to be given reasons for the adverse decision and his right to appeal it. We are entitled to the detailed reasons.”

Downer objected, saying that the state has responded to Zuma’s latest attempt to seek reasons from Chili for refusing to his removal and the leave to appeal application. 

He added that Chili did provide reasons for that decision and pointed out that the issues raised by Zuma in his second removal application had already been decided by the courts. 

Mpofu argued there are “exceptional circumstances” that justify Zuma being given reasons for why his second application for Downer’s removal has failed, claiming there is a “50% chance” that a court may find that Downer should be removed. 

Chili adjourned the court so he could make a decision on whether he will provide further reasons as to why he dismissed Zuma’s second application.  

When court resumed at 2pm, Chili said he is of the view that “exceptional circumstances” exist that justify him providing reasons for his Downer decision. The judge said he will provide his reasons in two weeks’ time, on 11 September.

Arms deal

Zuma, alongside French arms company Thales, faces multiple charges of fraud, corruption, money laundering and racketeering linked the multi-billion rand defence procurement project in 1999.

The last pre-trial hearing of the state’s case against Zuma happened in February 2021. The minutes of that meeting noted that Zuma placed it on record that “he is ready for the trial” but said he reserved his rights. 

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