Zuma to appeal ruling in arms deal graft case

Former South African president Jacob Zuma has instructed his legal team to appeal a court ruling that his long-running corruption trial must proceed.

The KwaZulu-Natal High Court ordered on Thursday that the arms deal case against Zuma and French defence company Thales will start on 1 February 2027.

Judge Nkosinathi Chilli accused Zuma and Thales of using a “Stalingrad defence”, a legal strategy of delaying proceedings through repeated appeals.

Chilli said the interests of justice required the case to move forward. He ruled that without the court’s intervention, there was a risk of grave injustice or harm to the administration of justice.

Zuma, 84, was not present for the judgment.

Zuma and Thales face charges of corruption, racketeering, money laundering and fraud linked to a $2 billion arms deal in 1999. The deal involved the purchase of fighter jets, patrol boats and other military equipment from five European companies.

Prosecutors allege that Zuma, then deputy president, took bribes of about $250,000 from Thales to protect the firm from an investigation. Both Zuma and Thales deny any wrongdoing.

In June last year, the same court dismissed their application to have the charges dropped.

The Jacob Zuma Foundation called the latest ruling “totally erroneous” and accused the court of gross misdirection.

Zuma was president from 2009 until 2018, when the African National Congress forced him out amid corruption scandals. He is separately accused of enabling the looting of state assets.

In 2021, Zuma was sentenced to 15 months in jail for refusing to testify before a panel investigating corruption under his presidency. He was freed on medical parole after two months. His imprisonment sparked protests, riots and looting that left more than 350 dead, the worst violence since 1994.

SOURCE: AP