Zuma allies face dock
JZ charges open way for more cases
FORMER president Jacob Zuma might not be the only top ANC official heading for the dock. His allies could soon also face prosecution as the National Prosecuting Authority finally bares its teeth.
Yesterday, the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), Shaun Abrahams, reinstated the 18 counts of fraud, corruption, racketeering, money laundering and tax fraud against Zuma.
And with that, believes political analyst Professor Shadrack Gutto, will come more prosecutions of government officials and politicians.
“It is unlikely that Jacob Zuma will be found not guilty on all of the charges that are on record, especially the evidence of Schabir Shaik,” said Gutto.
It has been speculated that Shaik would be an important witness in the prosecution’s case.
It was reported last night that Shaik had been subpoenaed, but his lawyer denied this.
When Shaik was contacted last night, he said he was not commenting on the matter at this stage. When he was asked about being subpoenaed, he said he had issued a statement that could be obtained from his lawyer, Reeves Parsee.
In the statement Shaik said he had noted the decision by the NPA and had no comment on the matter, “save to add that the matter is between the NPA and Mr Zuma” and he believed “the law will take its rightful course in this regard”.
Parsee also told The Independent on Saturday that he had no knowledge of a subpoena.
“We have not seen any subpoena,” he said in a written response.
For political analyst Daniel Silke, Zuma’s looming prosecution signalled the beginning of the end for his support base within the ANC.
It would be slow incremental attrition, he said.
But while Zuma and his influence on the ruling party was being eroded, Gutto did warn that his spectre would still loom large in the 2019 elections.
He said that charging the former president would have a damaging effect on the ANC.
“The ANC was there supporting him when charges were dropped and public money was being spent. How will the electorate view that?”
Gutto said opposition parties could take advantage of the public’s disapproval of the ANC’s handling of Zuma, but they would have to communicate this effectively during their electoral campaigning.
“It is not a foregone conclusion as the ANC will try to manoeuvre it and say they are now under a new leader,” he said.
Silke also warned that Zuma would now be a liability to the ANC.
“It is no good for (President Cyril) Ramaphosa to keep him on the election battle bus, as he has charges lying on his head.”
Silke added that he probably had little electioneering value for the party now, even in KwaZuluNatal.
But there are still hurdles to overcome in the former president’s prosecution including an application by an NGO for the matter to be abandoned.
Abrahams said an application for the permanent stay of Zuma’s prosecution was recently filed at the Western Cape High Court by a non-governmental organisation he did not mention.
“I, along with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), have been cited as respondents in this matter. I’ve instructed the State Attorney to brief senior counsel to oppose this application,” he said at the NPA’s Silverton, Tshwane, head office.
The former head of state will appear in court with his co-accused Thint Holdings Southern Africa and Thint (Pty) Ltd, both represented by Johannesburg-based businessman Pierre Moynot.
Both companies were owned by French arms manufacturer Thales.
Zuma may also need to raise funds for his defence team because DA leader Mmusi Maimane wants the government not to add to the R15.3 million already spent by the former ANC president defending himself for more than a decade.
“Now we continue to fight that no legal fees must be paid for Mr Zuma,” said Maimane.
The leader of the official opposition warned that should Zuma want to review Abrahams’s decision to reinstate the charges, he must finance the multiple litigations himself because he had been found to be a delinquent litigant.
“We will continue to fight, we are ready for the battle,” he added.
“The DA has pursued the matter for years… 10 years. It’s a victory for the continued fight for accountability. Ultimately Jacob Zuma must have his day in court.”
In September last year, the DA said the spy tapes legal action cost taxpayers about R30 million.
The spy tapes were infamously used by then-acting NDPP Mokotedi Mpshe to drop the charges against Zuma in April 2009, paving the way for him to be elected head of state only a few weeks later.
The tapes were clandestinely recorded conversations between senior NPA officials discussing charging Zuma before or after the 2007 ANC national conference at which he was elected party president.
In making his final decision, Abrahams said he had considered Zuma’s representations, which failed, but concluded that there were reasonable prospects of a successful conviction.
”On the facts of this matter and in the interests of transparency, administration of justice and the NPA, I am of the view that a trial court would be the most appropriate forum for these issues to be ventilated and decided upon,” he said.
Now the matter is in the hands of Moipone Noko, the director of public prosecutions in KwaZulu-Natal, who is expected to facilitate the necessary processes for Zuma and co-accused to appear in court.
Noko was part of the team of senior prosecutors assembled by Abrahams to assist him with going through Zuma’s representations last year.
At the Constitutional Court’s confirmation hearings of the North Gauteng High Court judgment invalidating Abrahams’s appointment, his legal representative said had been appointed lead prosecutor in Zuma’s case.