Zuma, NPA await ruling on recusal case
IT WILL be more than a month-long wait for former president Jacob Zuma on whether or not his application to have State advocate Billy Downer SC removed from his corruption trial is successful.
Zuma’s legal team (led by advocate Dali Mpofu SC and assisted by advocate Thabani Masuku SC) yesterday continued its arguments on why Downer SC should not lead the prosecution of the former head of state for alleged arms deal corruption in the late 1990s. Arguments were heard before Judge Piet Koen in the Pietermaritzburg High Court.
Quoting several case laws and sections of the Constitution and the National Prosecuting Authority Act, Mpofu frowned at arguments by senior State advocate Wim Trengove, who told the court that Zuma’s application was a permanent stay of prosecution dressed as a section 106 application (when an accused wants a prosecutor to recuse himself).
Mpofu said Trengrove’s court submission was a distortion of their case against Downer and the NPA, and their case was clear that they wanted a recusal. He said their facts spoke for themselves, and pleaded with the court to dismiss the claims.
Further, he insisted that a prosecutor should be beyond suspicion to lead a prosecution, and argued Downer lacked that, as he had allegedly leaked information to the media and shared some with spies. He also said Downer had emotionally attached himself to the case to the extent that he once cried when he learnt it was being withdrawn in April 2009.
“Like Caesar's wife, the prosecutor must be above any trace of suspicion, not even wrongdoing, suspicion, as administering the truth brings a special duty to see that the case emerges in court,” Mpofu said. He warned that Downer’s recusal would be a “prelude” for them to launch another legal challenge to have Zuma acquitted of the tainted case without being tried in a court.
Mpofu further pleaded with Judge Koen to carefully apply his mind to the court application “about a prosecutor who has breached even the Constitution and should not be allowed to lead Zuma’s prosecution”.
“How could somebody be qualified to prosecute a particular case if actually their conduct is in breach of the Constitution or the code of conduct or the NPA Act? It’s just a no-brainer, particularly if we emphasise our business is about affirmation of the section 35 of the accused. He (Zuma) should be like any other accused and be tried by a dispassionate prosecutor … they all deserve to be tried by a prosecutor who is not overzealous,“Mpofu told the court.
After listening to all the arguments and counter-arguments, Judge Koen told all parties that he needed at least a month to prepare a judgment. After seeking guidance on the availability of parties, he said he would hand down the judgment on October 26.
Jacob Zuma Foundation spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi told journalists outside court that Zuma was happy with the fight that his legal team put up in court.