Former president Jacob Zuma has lost his bid to be granted leave to appeal his private prosecution in the matter involving specialist legal journalist Karyn Maughan and senior state advocate Billy Downer. Zuma was appealing the judgment by the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg, which set aside the matter with costs in July.

The former President alleged that Downer had leaked his medical records to Maughan and accused the state prosecutor of violating the National Prosecuting Act. The pair denied the accusation arguing that the medical records were placed on the public court records. In July, Judges Gregory Kruger, Jacqui Henriques and Mokgere Masipa deemed Zuma's private prosecution against Maughan and Downer as an abuse of power.

Zuma and his legal team went back to court today to try and secure leave to appeal the ruling. His application has been dismissed with costs, with the court saying it stands by its original reasons and conclusions and does not believe another court would find it differently. The court said it had already "carefully considered" the grounds of appeal advanced and dealt with them extensively in its original judgment.