South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma appeared in court again on Friday over longstanding charges of corruption in a trial that began after the ruling African National Congress forced him to step down this year.
Mr Zuma first appeared in the dock in Durban in April in relation to 16 charges including corruption, fraud, money laundering, and other allegations stemming from an alleged 1990s arms deal bribery case.
In the latest court appearance Mr Zuma’s lawyers secured a further postponement of proceedings to next month, as they seek clarity on state funding of his legal fees — a source of tension between Mr Zuma and his successor as president, Cyril Ramaphosa, who has dropped a legal challenge to a bid by opposition parties to have the funding withdrawn.
As Mr Zuma’s trial advances toward a provisional date in November, many of his supporters in the ANC are increasing pressure inside the party on Mr Ramaphosa, who narrowly won its leadership last year marking the start of the decline in Mr Zuma’s political power.
Mr Ramaphosa won a subsequent power-struggle, becoming president in February with a pledge to root out corruption and reverse the decline in public institutions under Mr Zuma, who was long accused by South African opposition parties and civic activists of manipulating appointments of prosecutors to stop the corruption case coming to court.
As president Mr Ramaphosa, who became one of the country’s richest men after going into business with ANC backing, quickly removed many Zuma acolytes from his cabinet and the boards of state-owned groups.
There has been speculation that some of Mr Zuma’s allies could break with the ANC to form a separate party ahead of elections in 2019. Mr Zuma himself has said that he will remain in the movement but this week told opponents who are “provoking” him that “I must warn them that they must keep quiet.”
Mr Zuma has always denied wrongdoing in the arms deal case. He is also under fire over allegations that the Gupta business family used a friendship with him to control state business during his presidency — claims he and the family, whose influence has collapsed since he stepped down, also deny.
