By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is set to oppose former president Jacob Zuma’s move in another bid to have state prosecutor advocate Billy Downer removed from his corruption case.
Earlier in the week, Zuma’s legal team ramped up efforts to have Downer recused from the decade-long corruption case where the former head of state is co-accused with French arms manufacturer Thales.
In October last year, the Pietermaritzburg High Court dismissed the recusal application.
Judge Piet Koen labelled Zuma’s attacks on Downer as speculative.
Zuma’s decision to approach the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) will see the move opposed by the NPA.
“We will vigorously oppose that appeal given that there are no prospects of success on appeal. We therefore stand by the judgment of Judge Koen, “said NPA spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga.
Mhaga confirmed the NPA wouldn’t file any papers explaining why.
“We are saying that the judgment speaks for itself and we stand by the judgment. That’s an opposition, although we are not filing any affidavits.”
Zuma’s trial is set to start on 11 April.
Mhaga admitted the latest court challenge could delay the corruption case further.
“The importance of it is that we will resist any delay as we are ready and focusing on preparation for the 11th of April,” he added.
The NPA has repeatedly accused Zuma of regurgitating old falsehoods in an attempt to delay the start of his corruption trial.
In his petition to the SCA, Zuma is also seeking for leave to adduce new evidence in support of a criminal complaint he’s since lodged against Downer, which Koen also refused in January.
“The relevance of the evidence is self-evident. The possibility of a suspect in a criminal case opened by one person, also acting as an ‘independent’ prosecutor against the complainant, puts the notion of prosecutorial independence at the centre of the special plea,” he said in his papers.
Zuma wants the SCA to set aside Koen’s dismissal of an application for a “special entry” centred on what he alleges were irregularities or illegalities, as well as of an application for the reservation of several questions of law for determination by the appellate court.
He faces multiple charges of fraud and corruption alongside French arms dealer Thales over the controversial multi-billion rand arms deal struck back when he was KwaZulu-Natal MEC for economic development, in the 1990s. The former president and Thales pleaded not guilty to charges in May 2021.