NPA slams ‘disingenuous’ Jacob Zuma Foundation as former president heads back to court
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has refuted claims by former president Jacob Zuma that the state is not ready to go to trial.
The 15-year old fraud and corruption case against Zuma is back in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Tuesday.
Zuma is accused of receiving bribes French arms company Thales, which is also in the dock.
In a statement on Sunday, the Jacob Zuma Foundation slammed the fact that Tuesday is expected to be another postponement, saying it hope the judiciary will not tolerate any further abuse of the process.
But NPA spokesperson Sipho Ngwema says the court date was never meant to be the start of trial, but for the parties to resolve outstanding pre-trial management issues and agree on a trial date.
He also points out that the matter was last postponed to February 23 pending the challenge to the racketeering charges by Thales.
"The state is ready to start the trial and has indicated its earliest preferred date for trial and Thales has done the same - the actual date of trial will be determined by the court taking into account its court roll - and availability of the state and the two defence teams.
"It is exceedingly disingenuous to pretend that the trial was set down for February 23.”
