/ 23 January 2019

Corruption charges against Duduzane Zuma withdrawn — for now, says report

Duduzane Zuma ​appeared in court​ on July 9 last year on corruption charges
Duduzane Zuma ?appeared in court? on July 9 last year on corruption charges, and he was granted bail of R100 000 and was ordered to hand over his passport. (Gallo Images)

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) will reportedly withdraw corruption charges against former president Jacob Zuma’s son Duduzane in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Thursday.

Business Day reported on Wednesday that Duduzane Zuma’s lawyers wouldn’t comment until the court process was finalised on Thursday morning.

NPA spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane Aldo reportedly told Business Day the state would comment only after Thursday’s court proceedings.

According to that publication, the NPA sent a letter to Duduzane Zuma’s lawyers on Tuesday, notifying them of the provisional withdrawal of the charges.

While the reason for that withdrawal was unknown, the letter follows the NPA’s decision to provisionally withdraw charges against Gupta family members and associates late in 2018, in connection with the alleged Estina Dairy Project scam.

Free State NPA spokesperson Phaladi Shuping told News24 at the time that South African law enforcement agencies were hard at work, along with those from the UAE and India, to get “more evidence” in the quest to reinstitute the charges against the Guptas.

Duduzane Zuma appeared in court on July 9 last year on corruption charges, and he was granted bail of R100 000 and was ordered to hand over his passport.

He was charged with corruption for the alleged role he played in an attempt to bribe from deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas at the Guptas’ Saxonwold home in 2015.

READ MORE: Hlongwane and Duduzane on Jonas blackmailing ‘rumours’

It has been reported that, at a meeting with Duduzane, businessman Fana Hlongwane and one of the Ajay Gupta, Jonas was allegedly offered the position of finance minister, as well as a bribe of R600-million.

Jonas revealed how he was offered a bribe to take the job of finance minister. It is alleged that Duduzane was a party to the crime because he was present when the offer was made to Jonas by Gupta.

Duduzane is also meant to appear in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Thursday on another matter. He is facing two charges of culpable homicide and a count of negligent driving relating to an accident in February 2014, when he crashed into a taxi after losing control of his Porsche on the Grayston Drive off-ramp on the M1, north of Johannesburg. — News 24