The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has asked the public protector to investigate allegations that the media is being used to bring down former deputy president Jacob Zuma. Zuma has also accused the NPA of leaking affidavits to the media.
The allegations were being viewed in a ”serious light”, NPA spokesperson Makhosini Nkosi said on Thursday.
They were very disturbing to National Director of Public Prosecutions advocate Vusi Pikoli, who heads the NPA, he said.
”… The national director has written to the public protector, advocate Lawrence Mushwana, requesting that his office investigate the allegations in terms of the Public Protector’s Act and the Constitution.”
Pikoli had often said the NPA would conduct its work with integrity and respect for human rights.
Leaking of damaging accusations against any individual — and leading any campaign aimed at discrediting any individual — flew in the face of the law, the Constitution and Pikoli’s vision for the NPA, said Nkosi.
The NPA would give the public protector’s investigation its full co-operation, he said.
Severe action would be taken against any official who ”may have acted inappropriately as alleged by Mr Zuma”.
The investigation would be done by ”an independent organ of state”, Nkosi said.
He urged anyone able to provide information of assistance in the investigation to contact the public protector’s office.
”As the NPA we shall respect the investigations and the findings of the Office of the Public Protector. Therefore we shall not comment on the merits of this matter.”
In a statement issued to the SABC by his Durban-based lawyer Michael Hulley, Zuma accused the Scorpions of using the media ”to bring him down”.
He also lashed out at two Johannesburg based newspapers who published a story of a woman who claimed she was paid ”to service him”.
The newspapers claimed that they had a transcribed version of the woman’s testimony, that was in the possession of the Scorpions.
Zuma said the woman’s testimony was not submitted during the Shabir Shaik corruption trial, but was leaked to the media only days before he was charged with rape.
The woman used to work for one of Shaik’s companies.
Zuma denied ever having met her and said he found it ”disturbing” that he was not contacted for comment by the newspapers.
He said the transcript was either released to the media by the Scorpions or else the media obtained it unlawfully. – Sapa