DA welcomes court decision to deny Zuma leave to appeal

29 November 2019

The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes the decision taken by the Pietermaritzburg Division of the KwaZulu-Natal High Court to deny former President Jacob Zuma leave to appeal its earlier judgment on an application for a stay of prosecution by Mr. Zuma.

Despite his own repeated assertion that he will welcome the opportunity to have his day in court, Mr. Zuma has done everything in his power to resist being held accountable for the alleged criminal activities in which he was involved during the “Arms Deal”. The latest attempt was this application for leave to appeal the High Court’s decision not to grant him a stay of prosecution.

The DA has fought for many years to ensure that Mr. Zuma is prosecuted on the eighteen charges of corruption levelled against him, which includes more than 700 individual counts of fraud, money laundering, corruption and racketeering. After the then National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), Mokotedi Mpshe, decided to drop charges against Mr. Zuma in 2009, the DA set out to have that decision overturned and force Mr. Zuma to face his day in court. This involved a lengthy legal battle for the release of the so-called “spy tapes”, which was finally won in 2014. After that, a second lengthy legal battle ensued to have Mpshe’s decision declared irrational, which the Supreme Court of Appeal confirmed in 2017.

The DA is encouraged by the ruling of the Court today, as it reaffirms our belief that Jacob Zuma should eventually have to face his day in court. We look forward to seeing this matter finally moving towards conclusion.

Issued by Glynnis Breytenbach, DA Shadow Minister of Justice, 29 November 2019