South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal has thrown out a bid by beleaguered President Jacob Zuma to drop charges of corruption against him and the country’s prosecuting authorit, NPA must now take up the matter again.
The Supreme Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal by Zuma and the prosecuting authority which had sought to overturn a 2016 High Court in Pretoria ruling that the 2009 decision to drop charges against Zuma was irrational.
Justice Eric Leach, reading out the judgment, said the order by the high court “cannot be faulted”.
In April 2009, then acting national director of public prosecutions Mokotedi Mpshe dropped the corruption charges based on what became known as the spy tapes, which allegedly showed political interference in the decision.
The NPA argued that determining the date for the serving of an indictment on Zuma was politically motivated.
The Supreme Court of Appeal found that the motivation behind the timing of serving the indictment would not affect prosecution.
Justice Leach said: “The reasons for discontinuing the prosecution provided by Mr Mpshe do not bear scrutiny for the recordings themselves on which Mr Mpshe relied, even if taken at face value, do not impinge on the propriety of the investigation of the case against Mr Zuma or the merits of the prosecution itself.”
During arguments at the Supreme Court of Appeal last month, Zuma conceded that the decision to drop the charges was irrational but said he now wanted to have the opportunity to make fresh submissions to the NPA and for a rational decision to be taken.
