WATCH LIVE: Ramaphosa and Zuma square off in court over private prosecution

All eyes will be on the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg on Thursday as the first high-profile legal showdown for 2023 gets underway.

Ramaphosa vs Zuma

The full bench of the high court is set to hear President Cyril Ramaphosa’s urgent interdict application to halt the private prosecution against him by his predecessor, Jacob Zuma.

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The president approached the high court on an urgent basis after Zuma – on the eve of the ANC’s 55^th elective conference in December – charged him with being an “accessory after the fact” in relation to charges the former president is pursuing against senior state prosecutor Billy Downer and journalist Karyn Maughan.

WATCH LIVE: Ramaphosa vs Zuma court case, courtesy of eNCA

Last year, Zuma charged Downer and Maughan with contravening the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Act over the disclosure of a medical note filed in court, on 9 August 2021, during Zuma’s arms deal corruption trial.

Ramaphosa said he approached the courts on an urgent basis to challenge the “unlawful, unconstitutional and invalid” summons and private prosecution against him set down for 19 January.

He has argued in court papers that Zuma’s private prosecution bid is invalid and should be set aside because the nolle prosequi certificate issued to the former president by the NPA did not apply to him in the Downer/Maughan prosecution.

Zuma, on the other hand, wants Ramaphosa’s urgent interdict application to be dismissed and struck off the court roll with costs.

The interim interdict application will be heard by deputy judge-president Roland Sutherland and judges Edwin Molahlehi and Marcus Senyatsi.

Compiled by Thapelo Lekabe.

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