Shaun Abrahams announced on Friday that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) would be reinstating 16 charges, which include fraud and corruption, against former president Jacob Zuma.
Abrahams said on Friday afternoon: “I am of the view that a trial court would be the most appropriate forum for these issues to be ventilated and to be decided upon.
“After consideration of the matter‚ I am of the view that there are reasonable prospects of a successful prosecution of Mr Zuma on the charges listed in the indictment.”
Zuma faces 18 charges‚ involving 783 incidents‚ of racketeering‚ corruption‚ money laundering and fraud. National Prosecuting Authority in The KwaZulu-Natal will facilitate the trial.
The charges relate to a R30-billion government arms deal in the late 1990s. They were filed but then dropped by the NPA shortly before Zuma ran for president in 2009. Zuma — then deputy president — was linked to the deal through Schabir Shaik, his former financial adviser who was jailed for corruption. Shaik’s conviction almost torpedoed Zuma’s bid for president but the charges against him were dropped on a technicality in 2009.
The High Court reinstated the charges in 2016 and the Supreme Court upheld that decision last year, rejecting an appeal by Zuma and describing the NPA’s initial decision to set aside the charges as “irrational“.
