Zuma to face DA in court over state capture and 783 charges
The fate of President Jacob Zuma will be the subject of two separate and significant court cases this week.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the High Court in Pretoria will hear the DA’s application for Zuma to implement the recommendation of former public protector Thuli Madonsela that he establish a judicial commission of inquiry into state capture under a judge appointed by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng.
While Zuma has stated repeatedly that he intends to establish a commission of inquiry, nothing has come of this so far and he will oppose the DA’s application.
Zuma has taken the State of Capture report on review — this case will be heard in October — but the DA contends that this does not exonerate him from the legal obligation to implement the recommendations of the report.
The case before the Supreme Court of Appeal on Thursday and Friday will be the culmination of an eight-and-ahalf-year battle by the DA to get Zuma to face the 783 charges of corruption that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) decided to drop in 2009.
The court will hear the petition by Zuma and the NPA for leave to appeal against the unanimous judgment by the full bench of the High Court in Pretoria that the charges were withdrawn irrationally and must be reinstated. If the leave to appeal is granted, the appeal will be heard immediately.
The ANC national working committee will be involved with party matters in KwaZuluNatal on Monday. It will meet with the provincial executive committee to deal with the problem of the lower South Coast region as well as the political killings in the province.
There will be no plenary sessions of the National Assembly this week, but the National Council of Provinces will have two question-time sessions on Tuesday with the governance cluster of ministers and on Wednesday with Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa.
On Wednesday, the finance committee will be briefed by South African Airways, the Treasury and the South African Revenue Service (SARS) on their latest quarterly reports.
On Thursday, the finance committee will be briefed by the Treasury and SARS on their response to submissions on the draft Tax Administration Laws Amendment Bill and Taxation Laws Amendment Bill.