The Jacob G Zuma Foundation has announced that the application brought by President Cyril Ramaphosa against former president Jacob Zuma has been rescheduled.
According to the foundation’s spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi, the application, which was scheduled for January 10, will now be heard on Thursday in the high court in Johannesburg.
“Opposing affidavits for first, second and third respondents is 12pm on the 9th January 2023. Applicant to file answering affidavit on 10th January 2023 by 12pm. All parties are to file their heads of arguments on the 11th of January 2023 by 12pm. The case will be heard on the 12th of January 2023,” Manyi said.
“So, the screaming headlines that ‘Zuma missed the deadline’ belongs to fake news. The deadline that counts is the one set by the judge.”
The squabble between the former statesman and the president arises from the Zuma vs Karyn Maughan and Billy Downer matter.
Zuma launched a private prosecution against Ramaphosa on the eve of the ANC’s elective conference in December. Manyi confirmed at the time that the former president is suing his successor in relation to his case against, Downer, the state prosecutor, and Media24 journalist Maughan, who he alleges unlawfully leaked his medical records.
The foundation said Ramaphosa was “an accessory after the fact in the crimes committed by among others, advocate Downer, namely breaching the provisions of the NPA [National Prosecuting Authority] Act” in his corruption case.
However, the Presidency subsequently refuted the allegations, saying Zuma is abusing legal processes, and stating that the charges are “spurious and unfounded”.
Ramaphosa filed an urgent interdict application in which he argued that in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Act, a private prosecution can only be instituted after the individual prosecuting has obtained a certificate of non-prosecution.
“In accordance with the Criminal Procedure Act, a private prosecution can only be instituted after the individual prosecuting has obtained a certificate of non-prosecution.
“The certificate serves as a legal confirmation that the NPA will not proceed with the prosecution following its consideration of the charges.
“Mr Zuma has not provided such a certificate with charges in the name of president Ramaphosa. The summons served to the president is hopelessly sub-standard and demonstrates absolute disregard of the law,” the Presidency said.
In his answering affidavit, Zuma disputed the matter of “urgency”, thereby opposing Ramaphosa’s application.
According to Zuma, there is no urgency. He said that “any urgency that may exist is self-created”.
“It will be amply demonstrated that the application is neither urgent nor deserving of this court’s attention. It represents an extreme case of the egregious abuse of this Court’s process and is designed to shield the Applicant from accountability for his alleged criminal conduct,” Zuma said.
The squabble drew attention to Ramaphosa ahead of the conference. As he was contesting for a second term, all eyes were set on him to see if he would be re-elected or not following the emergence of his Phala Phala farm scandal. Nonetheless, he emerged as president of the ANC for a second term after beating former minister of health Zweli Mkhize.
At the time, the NPA was caught between a rock and a hard place after it said that the nolle prosequi certificate, which Zuma relies on for the prosecution, includes anyone named in the affidavits and statements in the case but Ramaphosa.
“As background, the NPA issued two nolle prosequi certificates in good faith and in compliance with section 7 of the Criminal Procedure Act. These certificates were issued in direct relation to the docket [Pietermaritzburg CAS 309/10/21], which contained statements and affidavits relating to specific individuals for alleged contravention of section 41 (6) read with Section 41(7) of the NPA Act.
“The nolle certificates apply to any persons who are specifically mentioned in the docket. The president was not mentioned in any of the affidavits or statements, and thus the certificates were not issued in relation to him,” advocate Rodney De Kock, head of National Prosecution Services said.
Manyi who was not impressed with the NPA said that the authority is taking sides by trying to rescue the president.
“The foundation rejects with the contempt it deserves, the improper and unprofessional attempt by the NPA to play the judge in interpreting its own certificate, which is the subject of a dispute between the private prosecutor and an accused person. This is totally unheard of. This statement is demonstrably false and it is nothing but a thinly veiled attempt to rescue Mr Ramaphosa.
“Paragraph 17 of the relevant affidavit reads as follows: ‘The alleged conduct also forms part of separate proceedings which are conducted by the president of the Republic, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa …The relevant complaint letter written to President Ramaphosa and his response form part of the full papers in an application, which I brought to supplement my plea in any criminal trial’.
“It is therefore totally mind boggling how any member of the NPA who has had any sight of the docket can even begin to falsely state that the president is not mentioned in the docket. Indeed even if the denial was true, it would still be inappropriate for the NPA to so blatantly take sides in favour of a criminal suspect,” Manyi said.
Manyi said the NPA needs to decide whether it would prosecute Ramaphosa or not, further urging the authority to stay away from this dispute between the former president and his successor.
“We challenge the NPA to tell the country once and for all whether it is prepared to prosecute Mr Ramaphosa as an accessory after the fact in respect of the offences raised in the police complaint. If so, then the private prosecution must be stopped.
“If not, then it will have no option but to issue a certificate to that effect, which will bring us to the exact same position as the present. This shows the futility of the NPA’s intervention, which constitutes further abuse of state resources, which has characterised this matter by certain organs such as the state attorney and the spokesperson in the presidency.
“The NPA must stay out of this dispute and humble itself to the final say of courts in the interpretation of what the NPA meant to convey in using phrases like “any person” and “in connection with the matter”. Subjective statements in that regard are not worth the paper they are written on,” he said.
Manyi said Ramaphosa remained criminally charged and is expected to appear in court on January 19.
“Mr Ramaphosa remains criminally charged and is to appear before the Johannesburg High Court in person on the 19th of January 2023 at 09h30.”
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