Judge backs call to reinstate Zuma corruption charges

SOUTH AFRICA’S supreme court of appeal yesterday upheld a high court ruling to reinstate hundreds of corruption charges filed against Jacob Zuma before he became president.

Mr Zuma said he was “disappointed” by the court’s decision, adding in a statement that he expects the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to consider unspecified representations on the case before deciding whether to prosecute him.

The head of the prosecuting authority at the time set aside the charges in April 2009, paving the way for Mrzuma – who has faced and denied numerous corruption allegations made since then – to run for president later that year.

However, the high court ruled in April 2016 that the charges – which relate to a 30 billion rand (£1.7 billion) government arms deal arranged in the late Nineties – should be reinstated.

Rejecting an appeal against that decision brought by Mr Zuma and the NPA, Judge Lorimer Leach said at the supreme court it was “irrational” for the NPA to have set the charges aside – the same word used by the high court.

“It is difficult to understand why the present regime at the NPA considered that the decision to terminate the prosecution could be defended,” the judge said, outlining the unanimous ruling.

The NPA must now decide whether to reinstate the charges.

Luvuyo Mfaku, an NPA spokesman, said prosecutors would need to consider the judgment but would “at all times do the right thing within the confines of the rule of law and in the interest of proper administration of justice”.

Mr Zuma has faced corruption allegations since taking office, most recently over alleged leaked emails that suggest the billionaire Gupta family, his friends, may have used their influence to secure lucrative state contracts.

“The charges have been formulated and the evidence is ready. We now await a trial date,” said Mmusi Maimane, leader of the Democratic Alliance party, the main opposition.