DA files papers on Zuma graft

Charges against Zwane, Guptas over R30m state funds blown on wedding

THE DA has questioned the decision of former National Prosecuting Authority acting head Mokotedi Mpshe to drop charges against President Jacob Zuma on the eve of the 2009 general election.

In court papers filed in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) yesterday on the dropping of charges against Zuma, the DA said Mpshe’s decision was clouded with emotion, unsubstantiated facts and confusion.

Zuma appealed the decision of the high court in Pretoria a few months ago, after it ruled that charges against him should be reinstated.

The SCA has set aside next month to hear arguments from both parties.

The DA said Mpshe’s decision to drop the charges in 2009 was irrational, and that there was no basis for him to do what he did.

The official opposition has asked the SCA to dismiss Zuma’s application for appeal against the high court decision.

It said Mpshe had missed the point with his decision to drop the charges.

“In the circumstances, it is submitted that Mpshe’s decision was clouded by emotion, unsubstantiated facts, an inadequate investigation, confusion about his own role and about the effect of (former Scorpions head Leonard) McCarthy’s decision,” said the DA in the papers.

“Advocate Mpshe also failed to apply his mind to the crucial parts of the test he had to consider in terms of the foreign jurisprudence he relied on.

“This is the very antithesis of a rational decision,” the DA pointed out.

“Based on the material before him, Mpshe could not have rationally reached the decision he did that this case involved an abuse of the kind which was so serious and so egregious that it justified the extraordinary step of withdrawing the prosecution of Mr Zuma,” it said.

The DA has been pursuing Zuma since he assumed office in 2009, demanding that corruption charges against him be reinstated.

Zuma and the NPA have opposed the DA’s application.

Meanwhile, the DA has has laid criminal charges against the controversial Gupta family and Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane for allegedly using R30 million in state funds to fund the lavish Gupta wedding in Sun City in 2013.

DA spokesperson on finance David Maynier said he wants all the parties implicated in the saga to be prosecuted.

It was reported on Friday that funds from a dairy project in the Free State were diverted to cover costs for the wedding in North West.