The Pietermaritzburg High Court has dismissed former president Jacob Zuma’s attempt to privately prosecute state advocate Billy Downer and journalist Karyn Maughan.
The ruling, delivered on Wednesday, came in response to an application by Maughan’s lawyer, Charl du Plessis, who urged the court to strike the matter off the roll.
The application was made following a series of failed appeals by Zuma.
Zuma had initiated the private prosecution in 2022, alleging that Downer, a senior prosecutor in the former statesman’s arms deal trial, and Maughan had leaked his medical records to the public.
SCA twice dismissed Zuma’s appeals
Despite Zuma’s attempts to appeal the court’s decision to set aside the private prosecution, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) twice dismissed his appeals.
Handing down his judgement on Wednesday, judge Nkosinathi Chilli emphasised that striking the matter off the roll would not prejudice the former statesman.
He highlighted the importance of upholding Zuma’s rights to a fair trial while acknowledging the need for justice to prevail.
“I cannot think of any prejudice Mr Zuma would suffer if an order is made to remove the private prosecution from the roll, pending finalisation of his appeal against the order of the full court of this division,” said Chilli.
“The private prosecution by Mr Zuma of Mr Downer and Ms Maughan is removed from the roll. Such removal is without prejudice to the rights of Mr Zuma.”
Bid to prosecute Ramaphosa
In a separate legal matter, Zuma has also taken aim at his successor, President Cyril Ramaphosa, accusing him of complicity in the alleged conduct of Downer and Maughan.
Zuma contends that Ramaphosa should have taken action against the two individuals but failed to do so.
The Johannesburg High Court recently postponed this matter to August.
Advocate Dali Mpofu informed the court of the latest developments, stating that Ramaphosa’s legal team had filed an opposing affidavit in response to an application for reconsideration in the SCA.
This necessitates a reply, leading to the postponement of the case.
“The latest status of the matter is that on the 4th of April, the counsel for Mr Ramaphosa filed an answering affidavit opposing the application for reconsideration in terms of Section 17[2] F in the SCA, which means we are now due to do a reply,” Mpofu told the court.
Matter postponed to August
“The implications of this are that the matter will have to be postponed once again. The reason why is unlike a criminal matter, where you can withdraw charges and reinstate them.
“In terms of Section 11 of the Criminal Procedure Act, if the private prosecutor does not appear on a set date, the matter is permanently dismissed, and therefore the arrangement we have had with this court … is that we will have these.
“As a result, to avoid coming [to court] every month, we have traditionally agreed on a longer-than-normal postponement … so that it allows for the appeals to be finalised.”
