Zuma vs Ramaphosa: Private prosecution battle back in court

Former president Jacob Zuma will be back in the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg on Tuesday for his private prosecution case against President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Zuma’s private prosecution bid against his predecessor was postponed in April, pending an appeal by the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party leader.

During proceedings, Advocate Dali Mpofu, representing Zuma, indicated that his client was challenging a July 2023 high court ruling that reviewed and set aside Zuma’s private prosecution in favour of Ramaphosa.

Mpofu told the court that Zuma sought to keep his private prosecution case on the roll and requested a postponement.

Court battles

It’s been one court battle after another for Zuma’s private prosecution of Ramaphosa.

The former president initiated private prosecution against Ramaphosa on the eve of the African National Congress (ANC) national elective conference on 15 December 2022.

He accused Ramaphosa of being an “accessory after the fact” to another private prosecution he was pursuing against prosecutor Billy Downer and journalist Karyn Maughan for an alleged breach of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Act.

Zuma also accused Downer, who is the lead prosecutor in his arms deal corruption trial, of allegedly leaking his confidential medical information to Maughan in August 2021.

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The former president accused Ramaphosa of failing to act after he complained about Downer.

Private prosecution

In July last year, a full bench of the Gauteng High Court set aside Zuma’s private prosecution of Ramaphosa, saying it was unlawful and unconstitutional.

Judges Mahomed Ismail, Selby Baqwa and Lebogang Modiba said Zuma brought the private prosecution against Ramaphosa “for an ulterior purpose in what amounts to an abuse of this court’s process”.

However, Zuma appealed the matter and in September the same court dismissed his application for leave to appeal with costs in a unanimous judgment.

The court also found the certificates on which the prosecution was based were vague, and one of them, initially issued in respect of Downer, did not apply to Ramaphosa.

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Still not satisfied, Zuma took the fight to privately prosecute Ramaphosa to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA).

‘Stalingrad strategy’

In April, Zuma suffered yet another defeat in a series of appeals in his long cycle of challenges to privately prosecute prosecutor Billy Downer and journalist Karyn Maughan.

Zuma’s private prosecution of Downer and Maughan was removed from the roll by Judge Nkosinathi Chili in the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) High Court in Pietermaritzburg.

Zuma initiated a private prosecution against Downer and Maughan for allegedly sharing public court documents, including a medical note, in September 2022.

However, Downer and Maughan challenged the private prosecution on the basis that the former president’s medical information was publicly available in court documents and did not include confidential details.

Three full benches confirmed that the Pietermaritzburg High Court’s finding in June 2023 that the private prosecution of Downer and Maughan for alleged breaches of the NPA Act by leaking his confidential medical information in August 2021 was an “abuse of the process of court”, had been pursued for an ulterior purpose, and was part Zuma’s ‘Stalingrad strategy’ to avoid trial for the arms deal corruption matter.

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