/ 14 March 2018

Concourt gives NPA green light for Zuma prosecution announcement

National Prosecuting Authority boss Shaun Abrahams.
National Prosecuting Authority boss Shaun Abrahams.

The Constitutional Court has dismissed a bid to prevent National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) boss Shaun Abrahams from announcing his decision on whether former president Jacob Zuma will be prosecuted.

“The Constitutional Court has considered this urgent application for interim relief,” it wrote in the order on Wednesday. “It has concluded that the application should be dismissed as the urgency relied on by the applicant is self-created. The court has decided not to award costs.”

On Friday, Abrahams said he was ready to announce his decision on whether former president Jacob Zuma will be prosecuted.

“At the outset, I must emphasise that I stand ready and willing to announce my decision,” Abrahams said in his answering affidavit filed in the Constitutional Court.

The Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (Casac) filed an urgent application to interdict Abrahams from announcing whether Zuma will be prosecuted, pending a Constitutional Court ruling on an appeal in the case.

The possible charges against Zuma include fraud, corruption and racketeering.

In its papers filed with the ConCourt, the Council for the Advancement of the SA Constitution’s executive secretary, Lawson Naidoo, argued that, if Abrahams were to take a decision on the prosecution of Zuma, “there will be reasonable perception that his decision was biased”. – News24

CCT 333-17 & CCT 13-18 Corruption Watch NPC and Others v President of RSA and Others by Luke Feltham on Scribd