‘Zuma private prosecution had no basis in law’ – Ramaphosa

The Presidency has welcomed the dismissal of former President Jacob Zuma‘s leave to appeal the setting aside of his private prosecution of President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Zuma suffered a second court loss on Tuesday,  less than 24 hours after the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg dismissed his application with costs in a unanimous judgment.

Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said: “As we have always maintained from the onset, the private prosecution had no basis in law and constituted an abuse of private prosecution provisions.”

Private prosecution

The former president approached the court seeking to overturn a previous judgment, which ruled the former president may not prosecute Ramaphosa.

Zuma initiated private prosecutions against Ramaphosa on the eve of the African National Congress’ (ANC) national elective conference on 15 December last year.

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

He 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.

The former president based his attempt to prosecute Ramaphosa on an accusation the president failed to act after he complained Downer had misbehaved.

ALSO READ: Court dismisses Zuma’s leave to appeal in Ramaphosa’s private prosecution

Downer and Maughan case

On Monday Zuma was dealt a blow after the application for leave to appeal the dismissal of his private prosecution against Downer and Maughan failed.

Zuma appeared in the Pietermaritzburg High Court to appeal the court’s order, which declared the setting aside of his private prosecution against Downer and Maughan as immediately enforceable.

In delivering the judgment, Judge Gregory Kruger said Zuma’s appeal had no merits.

“We arrived at the conclusion that there are no merits in any of the arguments raised by the applicant (Zuma),” Judge Kruger said.

ALSO READ: Zuma appeal in Downer, Maughan private prosecution case fails