Publications
Partners
Former president Jacob Zuma’s corruption trial will go ahead after his attorney withdrew his Constitutional Court appeal to overturn the Pietermaritzburg High Court’s dismissal of his stay of prosecution application.
In a statement, Zuma’s new attorney Eric Mabuza said the former president welcomed the acceptance by the Constitutional Court on Tuesday to withdraw his application for leave to appeal.
“This paves the way for him to prepare for the trial – set to start on May 6 – and demonstrate that he has never benefited from any arms deal corruption or tried to evade the trial. He hopes that his innocence will be demonstrated for all to see,” read an email from Mabuza.
Last week City Press reported that there was an internal disagreement within Zuma’s legal team and this led to the termination of the services of one of his attorneys, Daniel Mantsha.
Read: Jacob Zuma deserves ‘uttermost professionalism’
Correspondence between Zuma’s lead counsel, Advocate Muzi Sikhakhane, and Mantsha revealed a difference in legal strategies.
In his email, Sikhakhane questioned why Mantsha, while filing court papers for Zuma’s appeal at the Constitutional Court on March 26, opted to file papers drawn up by himself and advocate Thabani Masuku instead of a revised version drafted by Sikhakhane “as Zuma’s lead counsel”.
Sikhakhane said that although he accepted that Mantsha was within his rights to file the papers he filed, he as the lead counsel was of the view that his legal judgment was being questioned.
Sikhakhane also accused Mantsha and Masuku of not doing due diligence in their drafting of their court papers as they contained “glaring errors” as well as arguments that had long been dropped by Zuma’s lawyers before even approaching the Supreme Court of Appeal.
Sikhakhane said he was no longer willing to argue the appeal before the Constitutional Court on Zuma’s behalf.
He cited the conduct by Mantsha as affecting his “reputation as a practitioner, let alone the case of our client”.
This internal spat was soon followed by the termination of Mantsha’s services and the appointment of Mabuza, who immediately revealed that the Constitutional Court application was under review.
This announcement that the application had been withdrawn opens the door for Zuma – who has a suspended arrest warrant hanging over his head because he failed to appear at his last court appearance citing alleged ill-health – to appear in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on May 6.
According to his new attorney, Zuma continued to appreciate the support he receives from the citizens of this country and expressed his unreserved respect for the judiciary and other relevant state institutions.
Responding to questions from City Press, the National Prosecuting Authority’s chief director of communications, Bulelwa Makeke, said the matter was scheduled to go ahead on May 6.
 |
| ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
