South Africa ex-president Jacob Zuma to face corruption charges
Friday March 16 2018
Former South African President Jacob Zuma. He is accused of corruption, fraud, money-laundering and racketeering. FILE PHOTO | NMG
South Africa's former president Jacob Zuma will be charged in court with corruption, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has said.
NPA’s Director for Public Prosecutions, Shaun Abrahams, announced on Friday that he will be reinstating 16 charges of fraud, money laundering and racketeering against Mr Zuma.
“I am of the view that there are reasonable prospects of a successful prosecution of Mr Zuma on the charges listed in the indictment,” Mr Abrahams said.
The 16 charges relate to 783 counts of corruption against Mr Zuma relating to a multibillion-rand government arms deal in the 1990s.
The questionable payments were linked to the deal through his former adviser Schabir Shaikh who was jailed for corruption.
The development comes after a lengthy nine-year-long legal battle and more than 15 million rand of taxpayers’ money spent on legal fees to have the charges reinstated.
Last October, the Supreme Court of Appeal cleared the way for Mr Zuma's prosecution after it ruled that the 2009 decision to terminate legal proceedings against him as "irrational".
Zuma’s submissions
Mr Abrahams said a team of five senior state prosecutors spent a month studying submissions presented by Mr Zuma's legal team at the end of January before making a decision to prosecute him.
He said he notified Mr Zuma on his decision earlier on Friday.
The charges against Mr Zuma, who was ousted by his party ruling African National Congress (ANC) in February as president, were first brought in 2005 but then dropped in 2009.
Former acting NPA boss, Mokotedi Mpshe, then cited political interference by state prosecutors in the decision to charge Mr Zuma after reviewing audio recordings, referred to as the ‘spy tapes’.
The charges were subsequently withdrawn weeks before Mr Zuma was sworn in for his first term as president.
It is understood more than 200 witnesses have already confirmed their availability to testify should Mr Zuma’s case goes on trial.
Mr Zuma disputes all allegations made against him.