By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Pietermaritzburg high court Judge Piet Koen said he will try to deliver judgement on former president Jacob Zuma’s plea to have the lead prosecutor, Billy Downer, removed from a case he has been involved in for almost two decades because of perceptions that Downer was biased and not impartial.
“I will try and hopefully have the judgment ready by then,” Koen said before adjourning the Pietermaritzburg High Court.
Zuma’s counsel, advocate Dali Mpofu, told the court Zuma believed his right to a fair trial would be jeopardised as Downer was not impartial.
He said Downer was a witness against Zuma when the DA called for a review after the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) did not want to pursue charges against the former president. This was an example that Downer was driven by a political motive and was not impartial, Mpofu said.
The NPA has responded that Zuma’s arguments in his special plea were the “same old, same old” complaints used in previous unsuccessful court bids.
The case was postponed to October 26.
The trial over a 1999 deal was meant to start in May, but has been postponed a number of times due to legal arguments and Zuma’s unavailability.
Zuma, 79, and suffering from an undisclosed illness, was absent from proceedings at the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Tuesday and Wednesday. Zuma had surgery in August, but it is not clear what the surgery was for.
He has pleaded not guilty to charges of corruption, money laundering and racketeering related to the acquisition of military equipment.
In particular he is accused of receiving kickbacks over a 1999 deal with French arms group Thales in exchange for protecting the company from investigation. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges, and Thales has denied wrongdoing.
On July 7, Zuma was jailed for failing to cooperate with a separate corruption probe, precipitating some of the worst riots and looting the country has seen since the end of white minority rule in 1994.
On Friday the Constitutional Court dismissed a bid by Zuma to overturn his 15-month jail sentence for contempt of court after he ignored instructions to participate in a corruption inquiry.