By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Former President Jacob Zuma has used his private prosecution against Billy Downer to seek the state advocate’s removal, leading to the postponement of his corruption case to August.
Zuma and French arms manufacturer, Thales, are facing multiple counts including fraud‚ corruption, money laundering, and racketeering, in connection with the controversial multibillion-rand arms deal procurement concluded in the late 1990s.
In the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg on Monday, Judge Nkosinathi Chili ordered that the case, in which Zuma and French arms company Thales are accused, be postponed to 15-16 August, when the former president’s lawyers and the State’s legal representatives will argue over Downer’s continued prosecution of Zuma in the trial.
During Monday’s brief court proceedings, Zuma’s lawyer, Advocate Dali Mpofu, said they had lodged a new application for the recusal of Downer after their first application in 2021 was unsucccesful.
Zuma has accused Downer of being biased against him, and allegedly leaking his private medical records to News24 senior legal journalist, Karyn Maughan.
While Zuma had tried and failed to use Downer’s alleged role in the “leaking” of court papers containing a sick note as a basis for his removal in a “special plea” application, he has based his latest case on the fact that he is seeking to privately prosecute Downer and Maughanr for alleged violations of the National Prosecuting Authority Act. He maintains that Downer’s continued presence in this trial will amount to a violation of his rights to a fair trial.
He says: “I believe I can no longer have a fair trial as guaranteed in Section 35 of the Constitution if Downer remains the prosecutor in the matter.”
“The evidence is that his overall conduct in relation to my prosecution is inconsistent and incompatible with my right to a fair trial,” he states in court papers filed on Monday morning.
Judge Chili ordered that arguments in Zuma’s second application to recuse Downer be heard from 15 to 16 August 2023.
Zuma and a representative of Thales were excused from attending court proceedings on those dates.
“By agreement, this matter is adjourned to 15 August 2023 for the hearing of Zuma’s second application for the removal of Downer, state council, as a prosecutor in the criminal trial.
“That application is set to run for two days. That is 15 and 16 August 2023,” ruled Judge Chili.
The state is expected to file its answering court papers by no later than 26 May, while Zuma’s legal team is expected to file its reply by 19 June and heads of arguments by 17 July.
The state’s heads of argument are to be filed no later than 31 July.
Judge Chili took over the case in January after Judge Piet Koen recused himself from the trial over the “strong views” he made when he dismissed Zuma‘s first application to get Downer removed from the trial in October 2021.