African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma and French arms-maker Thint have been granted leave to appeal a Durban High Court ruling that Mauritius can be asked to provide documents relating to alleged arms-deal corruption, South African Broadcasting Corporation news reported on Monday.
The National Prosecuting Authority has decided not to oppose the decision. It, however, wants the court to grant an execution order to enable it to continue its efforts to obtain the documents, pending the outcome of the appeal.
The documents the state seeks from Mauritius include the 2000 diary of Alain Thetard, the former chief executive of Thales International’s South African subsidiary, Thint. It reportedly details a meeting in March 2000 between him, Zuma and fraud convict Schabir Shaik.
The National Prosecuting Authority alleges that an agreement on a R500,000-a-year bribe for Zuma was reached at this meeting.
Judge Phillip Levensohn ruled in favour of granting the letter of request for the documents on April 2, in terms of the International Cooperation in Criminal Matters Act. Legal teams for Zuma and Thint had argued against the letter. — Sapa