Zuma’s case not doomed, and he could still attack further aspects before trial

Former president Jacob Zuma’s corruption trial has been postponed yet again, this time to allow for the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) to rule on his special plea to remove prosecutor advocate Billy Downer.

The matter against Zuma and his co-accused arms manufacturer Thales was postponed to 17 October by the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg yesterday.

Zuma is appealing the decision by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) to dismiss his special plea application to remove Downer from the arms deal case.

Advocate Mannie Witz said if Zuma lost his appeal to the ConCourt, the judge would have to make a decision using his discretion in the legal principle to decide whether the matter can proceed unless there were any further appeals or actions which prevented the matter from proceeding.

Witz said the Zuma’s case was arguable and it was not a case where there were no prospects, or it was doomed.

“It’s a matter that needs to be argued and developing the law depending on what their decision is,” he said.

“It will help everyone in South Africa because fortunately he is a client who has the funds to present this argument.”

Witz said there might still be other applications for the former president’s legal team to fully ventilate before the case went to trial.

“I do not know if there’s any ammunition in their arsenal to proceed with any further applications, that would be up to his legal team to look at the legal principle,” he said.

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Witz said Zuma’s legal team have come up with various arguable applications in terms of the law.

“They’ve attacked all the different angles from a legal basis, there might well be a further basis to attack either the charge, the nature of the charges, there are various things you can challenge before the trial begins,” he said.

“They are reaching the point where they have tried all the legal principles and all arguable matters. It all depends on how the courts look at it.”

He said given former SCA judge president and now deputy chief justice Mandisa Maya had already ruled on the matter, he does not think she will sit on the matter as she has already made findings.

Witz said because of the serious nature of Zuma’s charges, there would be a chance, if he is found guilty, he would be sent to prison despite his advanced age.

“Age plays a certain role in regards to mitigating of the sentence, but does not bar you from imposing sentence. The nature of the offence is such that it would carry a minimum sentence of 15 years,” he said.

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Judge Piet Koen said the case would be postponed to 17 October as a holding date pending the decision of Zuma’s application for leave to appeal to the ConCourt.

Koen said the adjournment was granted on the basis that if the application for leave to appeal was determined by 17 October, the trial would start on 7 November and run until 2 December.

“If the trial is not ready to proceed by the holding date of 17 October, then a further holding date to engage for the continuation of the trial should be determined.”

He said if the trial is to resume on 7 November, Zuma and the representative from Thales are excused from attendance.

“The counsel of the parties who will be representing the accused at the trial is requested by 7 September to provide the list of the dates of prior judicial commitments,” said Koen.

Zuma faces 16 counts of fraud, corruption, racketeering, and money laundering in connection with the arms deal.

Last year, Koen dismissed Zuma’s special plea and in February dismissed his application for leave to appeal the decision. The dismissal prompted Zuma to approach the SCA.

In May, Maya dismissed Zuma’s reconsideration application to have the matter heard before the court.

Zuma’s lawyers argued Downer lacked the independence and impartiality to prosecute in the trial.

Zuma had also demanded his acquittal on all the charges if it were found Downer lacked title to prosecute.

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