DA demands answers

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has said President Cyril Ramaphosa must confirm that the government will not pay for former president Jacob Zuma’s “latest legal tricks”.

This after Zuma yesterday expressed his intention to file an application for leave to appeal the KwaZulu-Natal High Court’s judgment dismissing his application for a permanent stay of prosecution as it relates to the corruption charges he faces.

DA leader Mmusi Maimane said: “This is yet another conniving move by Zuma to avoid jail for the over 783 counts of fraud, corruption and racketeering as it relates to his role in the infamous arms deal.”

Maimane said that for over 10 years, South Africans had been forced to pay for Zuma’s legal fees “as he has used every trick in the book to delay the inevitable”.

“Last year, following a case brought by the DA, the High Court in Pretoria ruled that the state will not fund Zuma’s legal fees in his defence of his role in the corruption that has afflicted our country.

“Moreover, the court ordered Zuma to pay back the money incurred by the state for his pending cases.”

Maimane said he would write to Ramaphosa, requesting, firstly, that he confirmed in writing that the state would not pay a cent towards Zuma’s latest “stalling tactic in the form of his appeal”, and, secondly, request a complete update on the process made by the state in recouping public money used over the last decade to fund Zuma’s “decade-long plan to escape accountability”.

“We maintain that President Ramaphosa should have done the right thing and made Zuma pay for his own defence, without the courts forcing him to do so. Moreover, that he should have cancelled the agreement between Zuma and the presidency in which the latter will cover the former’s legal costs relating to corruption charges.”

This is yet another conniving move by Zuma to avoid jail for over 783 counts.

Mmusi Maimane

Democratic Alliance leader