Zuma plea ‘merely a ruse’
State advocate Trengrove says former president simply wanted to avoid answering to his corruption charges
FORMER president Jacob Zuma was seen – although virtually – for the first time since his incarceration when the Pietermaritzburg High Court heard his application to postpone his arms deal corruption trial yesterday.
Dressed in a dark suit, white shirt and striking red tie, he seemed to be in good spirits as he waved into the camera and smiled before proceedings started.
Zuma – who was recently incarcerated at the Escort Correctional Facility – faces 18 charges and 783 counts related to the case, including fraud, corruption, money laundering and racketeering, and is charged along with French arms manufacturer Thales.
The charges are in connection with the 1999 purchase of fighter jets and other military equipment from five international arms companies.
Nine of his charges are for allegedly filing false income tax returns.
Zuma’s counsel, advocate Dali Mpofu, made a special plea application to Judge Piet Koen to postpone the trial for up to three weeks.
The case has dragged on for close to two decades.
They want the matter postponed until the Constitutional Court hands down its judgment regarding his application to have his 15-month sentence for contempt rescinded so that Zuma can physically appear in court and give oral evidence.
Judge Koen is expected to hand down his judgment on the trial postponement application today.
Zuma’s legal team was meant to deal with their application to have State advocate Billy Downer recused but instead asked for the postponement.
His plea was labelled, by State advocate Wim Trengove, as “merely a ruse” by Zuma to avoid answering his corruption charges.
Trengove argued that Zuma’s presence online during the court proceedings was appropriate and lawful.
However, Mpofu said that Zuma did not consent to have his special plea heard virtually and that he had the right to a public trial and to be present when being tried.
He told the court that “ironically” Zuma’s rights were violated 20 days ago when he was convicted and sentenced to prison by the Constitutional Court without a proper trial – a claim disputed by the court.
“It’s a matter of once bitten, twice shy,” Mpofu said, adding that Zuma should not be tried without being physically present or allowed to make oral submissions.
The State also argued that there was no need for Zuma to give oral evidence as his 5 000 pages of evidence was sufficient.
Trengove said Zuma had for more than 10 years taken every point in the book to avoid his day in court.
“He desperately seeks to avoid answering the charges of corruption, fraud and money-laundering made against him,” Trengove said.
He argued that Zuma “copied and pasted” 135 paragraphs from his permanent stay application to the Constitutional Court into his application for a special plea.
“It’s merely a ruse. It’s a rehash of old complaints dressed up. It’s abuse to rerun the same complaints again,” he said.
While Zuma’s supporters were expected to gather outside the court yesterday, despite the virtual hearing, only a few supporters pitched.
Zuma is accused of receiving several bribes during the procurement process of the multibillion-rand arms deal around 1998 and 1999 – a time during which Zuma was KwaZulu-Natal’s Economic Development MEC.
Among the bribes Zuma is alleged to have pocketed is a R500 000 annual retainer allegedly paid by Thales through his then-financial adviser, Schabir Shaik, whose Nkobi Holdings was a Thales BEE partner in the deal.