JGZ CONFIRMS THAT RAMAPHOSA HAS BEEN CRIMINALLY CHARGED.
16 December 2022
The Foundation notes sadly that President Ramaphosa and his team have not yet grasped the legal import and implications of the charges which he faces. As the Private Prosecutor H.E President Zuma will not be drawn into the pointless exercise undertaken by the Accused person of litigating the current criminal trial in the media.
The case will be ventilated in the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg from 19 January 2023.That is the neutral and independent forum which will ultimately determine the alleged strengths and weaknesses of the charges brought by the Private Prosecutor against the Criminally Accused.
If the case is strong as the Prosecution believes, then the Accused will be convicted and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. If on the other hand the case is weak, as Ramaphosa asserts then he will either be acquitted or given a lesser sentence at the end of the trial.
This is the situation with all the thousands of criminally accused persons who appear in our courts every single working day. In terms of section 9(1) of the Constitution all are equal before the law. The law treats King and pauper the same. Justice is, or should be, blind.
The simple and basic truth is that the NPA recently issued President Zuma a revised nolle prosequi certificate which legally entitles him to prosecute any person connected to or in connection with the criminal matter of Zuma v Downer and Another Accused.
The revised certificate was issued three weeks ago on 21 November 2022 upon the request of the Private Prosecutor due to the spurious claims made by Accused 2 in the Pietermaritzburg case that the 6 June certificate did not cover her. That issue has now also been put to bed.
In its wisdom the NPA chose to cast the net even wider than the specific request of the Private Prosecutor and included "any person" connected to the matter. In law it includes all those who are perpetrators, accomplices or accessories after the fact, one of whom is Mr Cyril Ramaphosa. The matter is that simple and straight forward.
Reluctantly and in view of his wish not to litigate in the public domain, the Foundation will now release a copy of the November certificate together with this statement.
The fact of the matter is that once the criminal charges have been officially issued by the Registrar of the High Court and the Summons have been duly served on the Accused by the Sherriff then the Accused person has been charged.
For avoidance of any doubt, it must also be emphasised that in our law, save for the fact a private prosecutor does not have the power to arrest, there is absolutely no difference between being charged by the NPA vs being charged by a private prosecutor. That is exactly why a private prosecutor must first obtain a certificate of non-prosecution issued by the NPA
Unless and until the Criminal Summons have been set aside by a competent court of law or at the end of the trial, the above remains the status quo.
These legal principles are quite basic and apply equally to all South Africans irrespective of social or class position.
All criminality accused persons countrywide and the world over, except those who intend to plead guilty, believe they are not guilty as charged. This is their democratic right but it is better and more advisable to exercise it in court and not in the streets.
We hope that this clarifies the matter and not to be drawn into a futile debate outside of the courtroom.
Statement issued by Spokesperson of the JG Zuma Foundation, Mzwanele Manyi, 16 December 2022
