Zuma’s legal bills raise ire

It was “unconscionable” and “unacceptable” that former president Jacob Zuma’s runaway legal costs are still being covered by the state, DA leader Mmusi Maimane said in a statement yesterday.

He challenged President Cyril Ramaphosa to put an end to it, especially in the wake of revelations that the Presidency has agreed to pay the legal costs for Zuma’s participation in the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture on top of those for his criminal defence.

“How long will this government make the public pay for Jacob Zuma? President Ramaphosa should cut off this obscene funding immediately. And, in fact, the president should be opposing Zuma’s application for a permanent stay of prosecution,” he said.

“This is a corruption tax on the public. Ramaphosa should be using the Zuma case as an opportunity to demonstrate that no one will be above the law in South Africa. He should instruct the state attorney to oppose Zuma’s application for a stay of prosecution. The DA calls on Ramaphosa to do so.”

Zuma’s lawyers filed papers this month in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg seeking a permanent stay of prosecution.

The application was related to the French arms company Thales, which is charged along with Zuma, and also filed papers seeking the charges against it to be set aside.