Former president Jacob Zuma was back at the Pietermaritzburg High Court today for the arms deal corruption case pre-trial conference. Zuma was first charged with corruption involving a 1999 deal with French arms manufacturer Thales in 2005. He is accused of accepting a R500,000 bribe relating to the arms purchased by the government. The case was later withdrawn and reinstated in 2017.
JUDGE TO GIVE REASONS FOR NOT REMOVING DOWNER FROM THE CASE
The uMkhonto weSizwe leader is currently fighting to have state prosecutor advocate Billy Downer recused from the case, citing his right to a fair trial will be violated if Downer remains as lead prosecutor in the case, arguing that Downer is incapable of being considered neutral in his attitude toward him. In March, Zuma's lawyers made an application to have Downer removed from the case, and the application was dismissed by presiding Judge Nkosinathi Chili. At the time, Chilli said he was not convinced that Zuma gave enough reasons that retaining Downer as the prosecutor could prejudice his right to a fair trial. Chili did not provide reasons for his decision at the time and said he would only do so at the end of trial. Today, Chili made a u-turn on his decision and postponed the matter to September 11 to give reasons for his judgment to dismiss Zuma's application for the recusal of Downer.
MAKE A CHOICE
Zuma's defence lawyer advocate, Dali Mpofu, argued that the NPA must choose to either remove Downer from the matter or allow Zuma to privately prosecute Downer. "I believe that the sequence is clear; we need to hear the reasons and thereafter decide on whether we continue with our application of leave to appeal the decision, then there should be a pre-trial and then a trial. We cannot continue with this pre-trial hearing with Downer as prosecutor if we know that at a later stage, the Supreme Court of Appeal could find that he should have recused himself; then the whole trial would have been a fruitless exercise,' Mpofu said. Chili said he is of the view that "exceptional circumstances" exist that justify him providing reasons for his Downer decision. He will provide his reasons why he ruled in favour of Downer on September 11.
