South African state prosecutor to appeal order to reinstate Zuma corruption charges

Record ID: 102362

  • Title: South African state prosecutor to appeal order to reinstate Zuma corruption charges
  • Date: 23rd May 2016
  • Summary: JOURNALIST TYPING ON HER LAPTOP
  • Embargoed: 7th June 2016 13:29
  • Keywords: South Africa state prosecutor appeal corruption President Jacob Zuma
  • Location: PRETORIA, NKANDLA - KWA ZULU NATAL, DURBAN, JOHANNESBURG, BLOEMFONTEIN; SOUTH AFRICA
  • City: PRETORIA, NKANDLA - KWA ZULU NATAL, DURBAN, JOHANNESBURG, BLOEMFONTEIN; SOUTH AFRICA
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions
  • Reuters ID: LVA0024J13Q6F
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: South Africa's state prosecutor said on Monday (May 23) he would appeal against a High Court ruling which could lead to 783 corruption charges being reinstated against President Jacob Zuma.
    The decision will bring some relief to Zuma as he faces mounting calls to quit from the opposition and even from members of the ruling African National Congress after a damning constitutional court judgment against him in March.
    The main opposition party stepped up its criticism on Monday, saying the state prosecutor's decision was an attempt to shield the president and buy him time before elections in August.
    A decision by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in April 2009 set aside hundreds of charges and allowed Zuma to run for president the same month.
    The NPA's decision at the time was based on phone intercepts presented by Zuma's legal team that suggested the timing of the charges in late 2007 may have been part of a political plot against Zuma.
    But the High Court last month ordered a review of the NPA's decision to drop the charges, terming it "irrational".
    "I will always do what is correct, irrespective of whether the individual is an ordinary person, a cabinet minister or a sitting president," the National Director of Public Prosecutions Shaun Abrahams told a televised media conference in the capital.
    Abrahams said the law allowed the prosecutor a discretion that can be exercised at various stages of an investigation, and that the court ruling could dilute the NPA's powers.
    Abrahams also said Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan will not be investigated for espionage over his part in establishing a surveillance unit in the South African Revenue Service (SARS). Gordhan headed SARS when the unit was set up but has said he has no case to answer.
    The hundreds of corruption charges relate to a major government arms deal arranged in the late 1990s. The charges have also been brought to Public Protector Thuli Madonsela to investigate.
    Zuma said last month that an investigation into the deal had found no evidence of corruption or fraud. Critics denounced the findings as a cover-up.
    Zuma is beset with scandals in the run-up to local elections in August.
    The president survived an impeachment vote last month called after the Constitutional Court said he breached the law by ignoring an order to repay some state funds spent on renovating his home.
    In December, he was widely criticised for changing his finance minister twice in a week, sending the rand plummeting and alarming investors.
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