Former President Jacob Zuma and French arms company Thales face charges of fraud, corruption, and racketeering linked to the multi-billion-rand Arms Deal.
FILE: Former President Jacob Zuma in court on 23 May 2019. Picture: Sethembiso Zulu/EWN.
DURBAN – The Jacob Zuma Foundation has issued strong words against the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) because of delays in the corruption case against the former president.
Zuma and French arms company Thales face charges of fraud, corruption, and racketeering linked to the multi-billion-rand Arms Deal.
The former statesman was expected to appear in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Tuesday, but it has since emerged that there would be a postponement to the pre-trial conference.
An application by Thales to challenge racketeering charges against it was expected to cause further delays in the matter.
In a statement, the Jacob Zuma Foundation called for the matter to be removed from the court roll until the matter between the NPA and Thales was resolved.
“Yet, it is the NPA that is not ready to proceed when President Zuma calls upon it to present its case against him. The silence of the media in this regard is deafening,” the foundation said.
The foundation said that the NPA and the courts were treating the former president unfairly, insisting that the Zuma was ready to commence with the trial.
The foundation also accused the NPA of making false statements by previously stating that they were ready to commence with the matter.
“The foundation calls upon the NPA and our courts to treat President Zuma like any citizen and any litigant. The foundation calls upon the NPA to immediately commence with the trial as it always stated that it was ready to try President Zuma.”
