Supreme Court: Zuma Must Face Charges

The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in Bloemfontein has dismissed an appeal by South African President Jacob Zuma.

President Zuma had appealed the High Court order against him earlier this year. The High Court ruled that the 2009 decision to withdraw charges against Zuma was irrational and set it aside.

The 783 corruption charges – relating to a 1999 arms deal and his association with convicted businessman Schabir Shaik – were originally dropped in order to allow Zuma to become president.

In a statement, the presidency has called the Supreme Court’s decision “disappointing”, but expected. President Zuma has always maintained his innocence.

Political analyst Adriaan Basson says that the SCA ruling means that the National Prosecuting Authority should immediately reinstate the charges.

Basson also predicts that Zuma will not go down without a fight: “[W]e’ve seen with Zuma over the years, he has used his lawyers Kemp J. Kemp and Michael Hulley to fight the NPA every step of the way. I think what we can expect is that Zuma will again make approaches to the NPA to argue why the charges should be dropped.”

Zuma and the National Prosecuting Authority have been ordered to pay the costs of the failed application.