Police plan to beef up security in and around the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Friday for the appearance of African National Congress (ANC) president Jacob Zuma, KwaZulu-Natal police said on Wednesday.
”Strict measures have been put in place to ensure that the general public, the business community and the supporters are protected prior, during and after the court case,” said Superintendent Henry Budhram.
He said police and other roleplayers had met to discuss security and had vowed to ensure that normal activities ”proceed unhindered” outside the court.
On Tuesday, the party said it expected at least 5 000 supporters to gather outside the court on Thursday night, before Judge Chris Nicholson’s ruling on whether the decision to charge Zuma was lawful.
The ANC’s provincial secretary general Senzo Mchunu urged supporters to ”continue displaying the good behaviour that they have shown in all past appearances irrespective of the outcome of judgement handed down on Friday”.
He said ANC top officials and members of the party’s national executive committee, its provincial executive committee and leaders of the Congress of South African Trade Unions, the South African Communist Party and the South African National Civic Organisation would attend the vigil and a subsequent rally outside the court buildings.
Mchunu expressed support for recent protests by the party’s eThekwini region — which has staged marches on police stations and courts in the greater Durban area.
On Wednesday, the provincial leadership will join a march to the Durban offices of the National Prosecuting Authority to demand that the charges be dropped.
Zuma faces a charge of racketeering, four charges of corruption, a charge of money laundering and 12 charges of fraud related to the multibillion-rand arms deal.
He was charged in 2005, but that case was struck from the role in 2006. He was re-charged in December 2007.
A charge of racketeering and two counts of corruption are also faced by two Thint companies — Thint Holding (Southern Africa) and Thint — the South African subsidiaries of the French arms manufacturer Thales International (formerly Thomson-CFS).
Meanwhile, Zuma’s legal team has met with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), both parties confirmed on Tuesday.
NPA spokesperson Tlali Tlali said the meeting took place in Pretoria last week, after Zuma’s legal team approached the NPA to make representations regarding the case.
He said acting NPA head, Mokotedi Mpshe, also met the MK Military Veterans Association delegation on Tuesday, in Pretoria.
”Both parties want to make representations on Zuma’s pending criminal trial. They got the go-ahead to do so but will have to finalise their cases,” Tlali said.
”We are waiting for both of them to indicate to us when are they going to make such representation, it is for them to indicate to us.”
He declined to comment on whether the meeting was aimed at striking a plea bargain.
”A plea bargain is something that you get to once the parties have agreed as to whether that is an option or not. It involves a series of interaction between the two parties, where they explore various options, but we have not reached that stage yet,” he said.
Zuma’s Lawyer Michael Hulley said they approached the NPA to make a representation. He denied that they wanted to strike a plea bargain.
Show of support in the Free State
Meanwhile, ANC supporters in the Free State were expected to gather in Sasolburg on Wednesday in a show of support for Zuma.
”We are expecting between 10 000 and 15 000 people,” said the party’s spokesperson Qondile Khedama.
Officials said the Sasolburg gathering would be the ”biggest the Free State ever saw” and buses would bring many party members from other parts of the province.
They would march from the Zamdela stadium to the Sasolburg Magistrate’s Court where provincial ANC chairperson Ace Magashule was expected to hand over a memorandum. – Sapa