President Cyril Ramaphosa and his predecessor former president Jacob Zuma will face off before a full bench at the Johannesburg High Court on Thursday.
Ramaphosa approached the court in a civil matter seeking an urgent interdict of Zuma’s private prosecution. 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. Mzwanele Manyi, spokesperson for the Jacob Zuma Foundation, 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 Presidency said at the time.
“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.”
In the presidential showdown, Ramaphosa’s legal representatives will have to convince and prove beyond reasonable doubt that the continuation of the criminal and private prosecution instituted by Zuma against him is a violation of his rights and that it would cause irreparable harm.
The matter was initially set to be heard virtually before a single judge, however, the Jacob Zuma Foundation disclosed on Tuesday that a full bench of the South Gauteng High Court will hear the matter.
A court letter that Sunday World has seen indicates that consultations with the deputy judge president resulted in a decision that the matter be heard physically in court by a full bench.
However, according to Manyi, this civil presidential showdown is a waste of time. Manyi indicated on Tuesday that Ramaphosa’s dispute is “frivolous because the main case [private prosecution] is set down for January 19”.
“This private prosecution has gone from being mocked as something to be ignored into something quite big that now requires a full bench,” said Manyi on the foundation’s group WhatsApp.
“It will be interesting to see how the full bench will deal with a defective affidavit from none other than the head of state. Notwithstanding that it is a welcome development that the advice for president Ramaphosa to ignore the summons has been exposed to be fundamentally flawed and ultra vires, but on the other hand given the Zuma laws we have been subjected to, one hopes that this is not another build-up of other shenanigans.
“Why would such a frivolous case require a full bench at the instance of the judiciary itself? Typically, it is one of the parties that normally would request such.
“Is this perhaps one of those exceptional/exclusive treatments for the all-important president Ramaphosa? Would an ordinary citizen be given this kind of attention? Are we all equal before the law?”
Also read: Full bench to hear Ramaphosa’s interdict of Zuma’s prosecution
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