Private prosecution against Downer, Maughan ‘very much alive’ — Jacob Zuma Foundation
The Jacob Zuma Foundation says former president Jacob Zuma’s private prosecution of prosecutor Billy Downer and journalist Karyn Maughan is far from over.
Zuma suffered yet another defeat in a series of appeals in a long cycle of challenges to privately prosecute Downer and Maughan.
On Wednesday, his bid was removed from the court roll by judge Nkosinathi Chili in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg.
Jacob Zuma Foundation spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi said they are happy with judge Chili’s ruling and don’t see anything untoward.
However, Manyi said they want to make it clear that the case against Downer and Maughan was not over.
“The foundation says it must be clear that the judgment does not mean that the case has been dismissed.
It simply means that the case has been moved off the roll and the reasons for moving the case off the roll, the judge made it very clear that it is actually pending the other civil case that is out there.
“The judgment made it abundantly clear that both advocate Downer and Ms Maughan must present themselves in the criminal case on a date to be determined, which is a further confirmation that the case
is still very much alive,” Manyi said.
Manyi said judge Chili also made it clear that Zuma’s rights in the matter “would not be prejudiced,” after striking the case from the roll.
Zuma initiated a private prosecution against Downer and Maughan for allegedly sharing public court documents, including a medical note, in September 2022.
According to Zuma, this was in violation of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Act.
The private prosecution was set aside on June 7, 2023, with Zuma being ordered to pay the costs of Downer and Maughan’s applications.
Various court judgments have labelled Zuma’s private prosecution an “abuse of the process of court”, as being pursued for an ulterior purpose, and as part of his “Stalingrad strategy” to avoid trial for the arms deal corruption matter.
The trial involving Zuma and the French arms company, Thales, is linked to a significant corruption case concerning a multi-billion rand arms deal.
The arms deal trial has been postponed to May 17 for a pre-trial.