Corruption charges against Duduzane Zuma withdrawn
24 January 2019
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has dismissed claims that the provisional withdrawal of Duduzane Zuma's corruption case is tantamount to it not being ready to prosecute.
Zuma briefly appeared in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Johannesburg on Thursday, where the NPA placed the withdrawal decision on record.
Spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane told reporters outside court that the NPA had always been ready to prosecute, but it wanted to strengthen its case against Zuma by waiting for the cross-examination of former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas at the Zondo commission of inquiry into state capture.
Jonas accused the former president's son and the controversial Gupta brothers of offering him a R600m bribe and the position of finance minister before Nhlanhla Nene was removed.
Mjonondwane said that "the prosecutor in this matter saw it fit that they wait for the cross-examination process to conclude".
The move to provisionally withdraw the charges and reasoning behind it comes despite the Zondo commission not being a judicial leg of the NPA."
Not all prosecutors could decide that they'd want to wait for the state capture inquiry to conclude before prosecuting. But in this case, the prosecutors deemed it necessary to wait for that case," Mjonondwane said.
Black First Land First (BLF) was in court to support Zuma.
BLF deputy president Zanele Lwana said Zuma's prosecution was just another way of "rogue forces trying to get to former president Jacob Zuma".Duduzane Zuma's culpable homicide case was also postponed in the Randburg Magistrate's Court on Thursday to March 26.
He appeared in that court early in the morning before he headed to the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court.
