Former president Jacob Zuma has suffered another legal setback in his decades-long arms deal corruption case, after the Pietermaritzburg High Court dismissed his and French arms company Thales’s application for leave to appeal.
Judge Nkosinathi Chili this week rejected the application, saying he was not convinced another court would find that he applied the law incorrectly and saw no prospects of success on appeal for Zuma and Thales.
The ruling follows the court’s decision in June to dismiss their bid to have corruption charges dropped. Zuma and Thales had argued their right to a fair trial had been compromised by the deaths of two key Thales witnesses, Pierre Moynot and Alain Thétard.
The former president faces multiple counts of fraud, money laundering, racketeering and corruption relating to South Africa’s controversial 1999 arms deal. The multi-billion-rand procurement programme saw the country purchase fighter jets, helicopters, submarines and warships from European suppliers.
Allegations of bribery and corruption emerged soon after the deal was approved in November 1998, with the auditor-general flagging it as high-risk. Investigations by the Scorpions began in February 2000.
Zuma was first charged in 2005, following the conviction of his financial adviser Schabir Shaik for fraud and corruption related to the deal. Shaik was found guilty of soliciting bribes from Thales on Zuma’s behalf and jailed for 15 years.
Shaik was however released on medical parole in April 2009 after serving just over two years of his 15-year sentence. He was granted medical parole on the grounds that he was terminally ill. However, the validity of this medical parole has been controversial, with critics pointing out that Shaik has remained in good health for many years since his release, suggesting the medical grounds for his parole were questionable.
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Since charged, Zuma has employed what prosecutors have described as a “Stalingrad” strategy of delays, using successive legal challenges to prevent the case from reaching trial. The charges against him have been withdrawn and reinstated multiple times over two decades.
The National Prosecuting Authority reinstated the charges in 2018, and Zuma has pleaded not guilty, maintaining that the prosecution is politically motivated.
With this latest appeal bid dismissed, the case is expected to proceed to trial, though legal experts warn further delays remain possible if Zuma and Thales seek to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal or Constitutional Court.
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