Former President Jacob Zuma has instructed his legal team to appeal a ruling by the High Court of South Africa, Pietermaritzburg ordering that his long-running arms deal corruption trial proceed despite pending appeals.
Zuma and French defence company Thales Group face corruption-related charges linked to South Africa’s multi-billion-rand arms procurement deal signed in 1999.
On Thursday, Judge Nkosinathi Chili ruled that it was in the interests of justice for the trial to begin regardless of ongoing legal applications and pending appeals before higher courts.
The ruling was met with sharp criticism from the Jacob G Zuma Foundation, which described the judgment as irrational and legally flawed.
Foundation spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi said the ruling contained “multiple and gross misdirections of fact and law” and argued that the prospects of overturning it on appeal were strong.
“It cannot be that a single judge can willy-nilly erase or rewrite the Constitution of South Africa, which guarantees several substantive and procedural rights to all accused persons,” Manyi said.
The foundation also criticised the court for allowing the matter to proceed while an application seeking a permanent stay of prosecution remains before the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa.
According to the foundation, the prolonged delays in the matter have severely prejudiced Zuma’s right to a fair trial, citing the deaths of key witnesses, fading memories and deteriorating evidence over the more than two decades since the case began.
“At the centre of the pending proceedings before the Supreme Court of Appeal is the incontrovertible reality that several material witnesses have since passed away, memories have faded, evidence has deteriorated, and the passage of time has irreparably prejudiced the ability of the accused to receive a fair trial,” Manyi said.
Judge Chili, however, said there would be no “cognisable harm or grave injustice” if the trial proceeded, warning that further delays could bring the administration of justice into disrepute.
The case, which stems from a controversial multi-billion-dollar arms procurement programme involving several European defence companies, has been repeatedly delayed by procedural challenges, appeals and recusal applications a legal strategy often referred to as “Stalingrad” tactics.
Zuma, who is accused of accepting bribes from Thales while serving as deputy president, was not present in court for Thursday’s judgment.