Zuma says High Court was wrong, will appeal corruption ruling

In April the North Gauteng High Court ruled that former NPA head Mokotedi Mpshe acted irrationally when he dropped all 783 charges of corruption, fraud and racketeering against Zuma.

El presidente was the third respondent in the case brought to the courts by the DA.

 “The President believes that the decision of the Court affects him directly and is of a strong view that the Court erred in several respects in its decision,” the presidency said.

According to Zuma, the High Court ignored all the evidence showing that the charges were part of a political smear campaign.

He added that he’s basing his application on the following grounds:

• The Court erred as a matter of law in matters including the interpretation and application of the case law relating to rationality as a ground for a legality challenge, and in holding that the National Director of Public Prosecutions is not entitled to terminate a prosecution on the basis of prosecutorial misconduct and the abuse of the prosecutorial process;
• The Court erred in its evaluation of the evidence placed before it by the respondents, particularly in failing to accept the President’s allegations and those of the NDPP, which were undisputed or were not meaningfully disputed by the applicant;
• It also erred in finding that Mr Mpshe’s decision was a consequence of his (subjective) feelings of anger and betrayal and that those feelings caused him to act impulsively and irrationally;
• The Court erred in finding that Mr Mpshe was subjected to undue pressure which deprived him of the time and space to properly apply his mind to the matter;
• The Court erred as matters of fact and law in accepting that the ‘Browse Mole Report’ revealed an unofficial attempt to besmirch the person and integrity of the President, but failing to conclude on the available evidence that the Report compromised the fairness and integrity of the prosecution process entitling the NDPP to terminate the prosecution.

“President Zuma believes that the appeal raises important issues of law and fact and also believes that the appeal has reasonable prospects of success,” the presidency said.

‘New’ NPA boss Shaun Abrahams on Monday said the authority would appeal the High Court’s ruling to the SCA, claiming that the ruling brought into question the independence of the NPA – well, that’s rich – and that it might have implications for future prosecutions by the NPA.

 “I believe it needs the decision of an appeal court,” Abrahams said.

Opposition parties and the public at large questioned the NPA’s decision, saying it’s just trying to buy Zuma some more time.