Zuma to appear in court next month

Former president to appear on April 6 on corruption charges.

Former president Jacob Zuma will reportedly this week be summoned to appear in the High Court in Durban on 6 April.

He faces a number of charges, including corruption.

The charges stem from the years-old arms deal, a spokesperson for the Hawks investigative crime unit said yesterday.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) last week said it would seek to prosecute Zuma on 16 charges, including fraud, racketeering, corruption and money laundering.

Zuma could not be reached for comment yesterday.

He has repeatedly denied the allegations.

“We are of the view everything will be finalised soon. Hopefully this week,” Hawks spokesperson Hangwani Mulaudzi told Reuters.

News24, citing sources close to the case, reported that Zuma would be summoned to appear in the Durban High Court on April 6. Mulaudzi declined to confirm the date.

Zuma, who was forced to resign by the ruling ANC last month, was at the centre of the 1990s deal to buy European military kit that has cast a shadow over politics in South Africa for years.

Zuma was deputy president at the time of the arms deal.

Schabir Shaikh, his former fi- nancial adviser, was found guilty and jailed in 2005 for trying to solicit bribes on behalf of Zuma.

The 16 counts were filed against Zuma but then dropped by the NPA shortly before he successfully ran for president in 2009.

Since his election nine years ago, his opponents have fought a legal battle to have the charges reinstated, a process Zuma has delayed with countless legal counter-challenges. –