Abrahams must finalise Zuma’s court date before Friday 

10 May 2016

I have today written to the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), Adv. Shaun Abrahams, requesting that he make public the date by which the Spy Tapes matter will be placed back on the Court Roll, as the deadline for this is this Friday, 13 May 2016.

Last month a full bench of the North Gauteng High Court found that the 2009 decision by Mokotedi Mpshe, then acting NDPP, to drop the 783 counts on corruption charges against Zuma was "irrational” and thus set aside.

The court was abundantly clear when it found that “the envisaged prosecution against Mr Zuma was not tainted by the allegations against Mr McCarthy. Mr Zuma should face the Charges as outlined in the indictment.” 

Accordingly, this judgment gives Adv. Abrahams until Friday 13 May 2016 to either appeal the North Gauteng High Court’s ruling or place the matter back on the Court Roll. Abrahams must therefore make public his decision as soon as possible.

Adv Abrahams is reminded that the charges that were erroneously dropped by the NPA in 2009 are automatically reinstated and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is duty-bound to proceed with the prosecution if they fail to give notice to appeal.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is of the view that is in the public interest for Adv. Abrahams to furnish the President with a court date by which to schedule a trial and allow the President to have his day in court so that this matter is concluded in due course and at no further expense to the ordinary tax payer who will, in effect, bare further burden of this protracted legal battle.

The DA has long maintained that in the absence of any legitimate factual or legal reasons, the DA is led to believe that these charges were dropped for political purposes: a political solution needed to be found to drop charges against a person who was about to become President, and the Spy Tapes provided the convenient excuse that has now been set aside.

In the interests of legal precedence, justice, the Rule of Law and due process that Adv. Abrahams views this request in a light most favourable and takes the decision to proceed with the prosecution that the North Gauteng High Court’s full bench determined was irrational to discontinue in the first instance.

In doing so Adv Abrahams must seize this golden opportunity to demonstrate his independence and proceed with this prosecution as planned, and give Jacob Zuma his day in court in the interest of the Rule of Law and due process.

Issued by Mabine Seabe, Spokesperson to the DA Leader, 10 May 2016