It’s your move, JZ lawyer tells NPA
Zuma ‘to study judgment’ that could see him back in the dock
FORMER National Prosecuting Authority acting head Mokotedi Mpshe has no ambitions of becoming a judge.
He is considering returning to practising as an advocate after the high court ruling this week that lambasted his decision not to prosecute President Jacob Zuma.
Judge Aubrey Ledwaba, in the High Court in Pretoria, delivered a scathing judgment on Friday against the NPA and criticised Mpshe for his 2009 decision to drop criminal charges against Zuma.
Mpshe said that the so-called spy tapes — recordings of conversations between the then Scorpions head Leonard McCarthy and former director of public prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka — showed political interference in the decision to charge Zuma.
But the court this week found his decision was “impulsive and irrational” and that any decision to halt prosecution should have been left to a court of law.
“This court finds there is no substance in submissions of the respondents. We find that Mr Mpshe found himself under pressure, and consequently made an irrational decision. Mr Mpshe ignored the importance of his oath of office,” said Ledwaba.
Mpshe, who is an acting judge in the Land Claims Court, told the Sunday Times yesterday that the judgment had no bearing on his future.
“No, I don’t have ambitions to become a judge. I will act and I have another option of going back to the bar,” he said. He declined to comment further.
The NPA will now have to decide whether to reinstate the charges against Zuma on 783 counts. Its spokesman, Luvuyo Mfaku, said the NPA would consider the points raised in the judgment.
Presidency spokesman Bongani Majola said Zuma would study the judgment.
Zuma’s lawyer Michael Hulley said the matter was now in the hands of the national director of public prosecutions, Shaun Abrahams. He said there were no plans to revive an application for a permanent stay of prosecution.
“It was struck off the court roll in April of last year, so we will deal with it in that context,” said Hulley.
“Whether they [NPA] take the matter on appeal and whether they don’t — as you know it’s not President Zuma’s decision that’s being challenged, it’s the NDPP. President Zuma doesn’t take the lead; he defers to the authority of the NDPP.”
Hulley said Zuma was, however, “an active and interested party”.
The ANC said it was pleased the matter, which had “dragged on for close to a decade”, appeared to be nearing an end. In a statement, party spokesman Zizi Kodwa said: “The ANC has consistently supported the legal maxim that justice delayed is justice denied.”
Kodwa said that it was noteworthy that the court did not deal with the merits of the case against Zuma. He said the judgment was a review of the actions of the NPA.
“We trust that it shall therefore not be used by any in our society to infer any culpability in any crime or offence by the president,” he said.
Professor Tinyiko Maluleke, a political analyst at the University of Pretoria, said the judgment had clear and serious implications for Zuma and the ANC.
“It opens the door for reinstatement, but more concerning is what it means for the leadership of the president and ANC as the ruling party. What is not clear is what legal avenues are there for the DA. Could they approach the courts to compel the NPA to charge him? Or could they go the avenue of private prosecution?”
Maluleke said there were also ethical implications for the ANC, which attracted negative sentiments.
“It’s a matter of what it all means for where South Africa, [the] ANC, [the] Zuma leadership are going. That is what we should be concerned about.
“[The] ANC in the past has been a leader in terms of ethics and wrestled the moral high ground from the apartheid government by selling a bigger vision of South Africa’s future and securing democracy with no violence,” said Maluleke.
He said the ANC and the government, in their reaction, were only stating the obvious and that the real question was “could they, or would they, tackle this at a higher level in terms of ethics of leadership?” TAKING THE TAPES: Former national DA leader Helen Zille outside the High Court in Pretoria in 2014 when she was handed the recordings, known as the Zuma spy tapes, ending a five-year legal battle against the NPA
More concerning is what it means for the leadership