NATIONAL NEWS - The Pietermaritzburg High Court has dismissed the application for acquittal by former president Jacob Zuma and French arms company Thales in the decades-long arms deal corruption case.
The Witness reports that Judge Nkosinathi Chili also ruled that the court doesn’t have authority to withdraw charges, adding that ‘it would be incompetent for the court to grant the relief (permanent stay of prosecution) sought’.
He said the state has the exclusive right to stop prosecution.
Chili reserved his decision in April after hearing arguments from both parties. Zuma and Thales were seeking a permanent stay of prosecution, claiming that unreasonable delays had prejudiced their right to a fair trial.
Thales argued that the deaths of two key witnesses — former company directors Pierre Moynot and Alain Thétard — had crippled its defence. Both men were central to the events surrounding the allegations and were the only Thales directors based in South Africa at the time of the deal.
According to court papers, Thales became aware in late 2021 that Moynot had died on January 18, 2021, and that Thétard had died in Germany on September 7, 2022 — although confirmation was only received in 2024.
Zuma joined Thales’ application, arguing that the state’s case against him is ‘symbiotically conjoined’ with that of Thales. His lawyer, Advocate Dali Mpofu, said the deaths of Moynot and Thétard also weaken Zuma’s ability to challenge the evidence against him — particularly in relation to the controversial ‘encrypted fax’ at the heart of the allegations.
In his ruling, Chili said he was not persuaded that Thales and Zuma would suffer irreparable prejudice or that their rights to a fair trial would be compromised if the matter proceeds.
Mpofu said it was likely that Zuma would file an application for leave to appeal the ruling, which must be done by 24 June.
Zuma is accused of accepting bribes from Thales during his tenure as deputy president in the late 1990s. These payments were allegedly facilitated by his former financial adviser, Schabir Shaik, who was convicted of corruption in 2005.
Chili agreed with National Prosecuting Authority Advocate Andrew Breitenbach, that the full extent of any potential prejudice could only be assessed once evidence is led at trial.
The judge had previously dismissed Zuma’s bid to remove lead prosecutor Advocate Billy Downer, as well as a subsequent application for leave to appeal that decision.
Mpofu said today that Zuma has since filed a petition with the Supreme Court of Appeal to challenge Judge Chili’s ruling.
The matter has been adjourned to 4 December.
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