SAFTU calls on Jacob Zuma to step down
The South African Federation of Trade Unions welcomes today’s ruling by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), which dismissed, with costs, an attempt by President Jacob Zuma to overturn a previous ruling that he could face 783 fraud, corruption, money laundering and racketeering charges.
SAFTU demands that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and its Director, Shawn Abrahams, immediately stop looking for further excuses for not taking the action which the Constitution requires of him - to reinstate all the charges without any further delay.
The SCA unanimously refused to overturn a Pretoria High Court judgment, which it said “cannot be faulted”, that the decision in 2009 to withdraw the 783 criminal charges was ‘irrational’ and ruled that the charges must be reinstated.
Justice Eric Leach pointed to a number of ways in which Mokotedi Mpshe’s decision was irrational - including the fact that the prosecution team had been excluded from the decision - and that it was difficult to understand why the present regime at the NPA believed the decision could be defended.