Abrahams urged to proceed with JZ case

A PANEL of prosecutors in the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) have written to Director of Public Prosecutions Shaun Abrahams requesting authorisation to proceed with the prosecution of former president Jacob Zuma on corruption charges.

This is according to sources in the NPA in KwaZulu-Natal.

The charges are related to corruption in the arms deal, for which Zuma’s former financial adviser, Schabir Shaik, was jailed for 15 years for corruption, fraud, racketeering and money laundering.

The case against Zuma was dropped before the 2009 general elections, following claims that his prosecution was malicious and politically motivated.

The NPA has since last year mulled Zuma’s charges.

City Press has reported that there were 18 charges that Zuma could face in the Pietermaritzburg High Court.

The source said KZN’s NPA head Moipone Noko had taken her decision with regard to Zuma’s prosecution, but said it would be premature to comment on the matter before Abrahams “formally and officially announces the date and decision”.

She has written a letter and forwarded it to the NPA’s head office, which is where the final decision would be made.

“We will hear from him, but she has made her decision. He (Abrahams) is the one who has to decide and announce his decision. But we will not be free to talk about it because this is the case that still has to go to court. For now let’s not talk about it, let’s wait for him (Abrahams),” said another source.

Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said yesterday the unit was involved insofar as ensuring that the State witnesses were available to testify in court. “We have no further role. We played our role in the beginning (of the original case).

“The only role we played of late was to check if the witnesses are still available and give our report. But we don’t talk about the matter other than that,” he added.

He could not say how many witnesses would testify.

Zuma’s diehard supporters are expected to camp outside the Pietermaritzburg High Court, as they did before Judge Chris Nicholson, citing then president Thabo Mbeki’s interference with the prosecution, ruled the decision to prosecute Zuma was “invalid” and set it aside.

Previously, scores of ANC supporters held night vigils every time Zuma appeared in court. Zuma and his traditional healers were also seen practising rituals, including burning incense outside the court.

The ANC’s eThekwini regional secretary Bheki Ntuli said Zuma’s supporters had not met to draft their support programme, but he believed there would be many of them at the court.

“The ANC has since the previous charges been supporting him. We believe that he (Zuma) is innocent. We will support him. We believe that he will be proved innocent,” Ntuli added.

He said they believed that Zuma should appear in court in order to clear his name.