A Pietermaritzburg magistrate, formerly a member of the Scorpions, has withdrawn his bid to block state prosecutor Billy Downer from taking part in the case against African National Congress (ANC) president Jacob Zuma.
Magistrate Ashin Singh, who had applied on Thursday to be admitted as amicus curiae (friend of the court) in the Zuma case, withdrew his application on Friday.
In papers that he lodged with the court on Thursday, he claims: ”Unless one of the members of the team of prosecuting counsel is removed from that team, the accused will not be afforded a fair trial. The member of the team of the prosecuting counsel that I refer to is Mr WJ [Billy] Downer SC.”
Singh said in his papers that he wishes to ”lead evidence in limine in the matter of the question of whether the court should not order that advocate WJ Downer SC is interdicted from taking any further part in the criminal trial of State v Zuma and Two Others”.
He withdrew the application as the state filed its notice to oppose it.
However, in a letter, Petrus Coetzee, the attorney representing the state, said the state refused to accept the case being withdrawn unless there was ”a complete and unequivocal withdrawal of the allegations of misconduct and dishonesty against Mr Downer and Mr [Chris] MacAdam”.
The letter, which is in the South African Press Association’s (Sapa) possession and has been served on Singh’s attorney, says that Singh cannot legally withdraw his application in a matter that had been set down for hearing unless he had obtained the consent of the opposing party as well as the court.
Singh on Friday told Sapa by telephone that he had withdrawn his application because of ”time constraints”.
”I stand by all the allegations that I have made. Downer and [Chris] McAdam will be prosecuted the minute there’s a new administration,” said Singh.
Singh, who previously launched an unsuccessful private prosecution against Downer, said he would again be ”pursuing the criminal case against him as long as it takes”.
In the Notice of Opposition to the amicus curiae application, the state contends that ”the applicant is engaged in a vendetta against Mr Downer, which has so clouded his judgement that he will be unable to provide the independent and objective assistance expected of an amicus curiae to the court”.
It goes on to point out that Singh has lodged complaints with the South African president, the deputy president, the police national commissioner, the Public Protector, the minister of justice and constitutional Development, Parliament, the Congress of South African Trade Unions, the Bar Council and even the United Nations.
”The actions of the applicant have the hallmarks of litigious paranoia with no end to the lengths to which he will go to pursue his vendetta against Mr Downer and others whom he perceives [incorrectly] to have wronged him.”
Legal battle
The legal battle between Singh and the Scorpions dates back to 1999 when Singh was seconded to the investigating directorate for organised crime and public safety in KwaZulu-Natal. The directorate, headed by Chris MacAdam, later formed part of the Scorpions.
Singh was subsequently expelled, arrested, charged and prosecuted on 12 counts of defeating or obstructing the course of justice, unauthorised disclosure of information, making a false statement under oath and contravening sections of the Protection of Information Act and the Interception and Monitoring Prohibition Act.
He won a permanent stay of prosecution when the trial magistrate ruled in 2003 that evidence against him had been obtained illegally.
Singh then launched a private prosecution against former national director of public prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka, KwaZulu-Natal Scorpions head Clifford Marion and other senior officials of the National Prosecuting Authority, including Billy Downer — who prosecuted Schabir Shaik.
On August 4 2006, Acting Judge Nigel Hollis dismissed Singh’s application, saying in a reserved judgement that Singh had failed to satisfy the necessary legal requirements for launching such a prosecution.
In a case that is currently before the Pietermaritzburg High Court, Singh is claiming R2,87-million from the minister of justice and constitutional development.
His claim is made up of R2,5-million for insult and R370 000 costs to defend himself from prosecution in relation to his being arrested and charged. — Sapa