Former South African President Jacob Zuma has filed a lawsuit against current President Cyril Ramaphosa for unspecified «serious crimes», a move that has been strongly criticized by the Presidency, which has accused the former president of «abusing legal processes».
The Jacob Zuma Foundation has indicated in a statement that Ramaphosa has been sued for «facilitating» crimes «committed among others» by prosecutor Billy Downer over an alleged leak of private information.
He has also stressed that «the serious crimes Ramaphosa is accused of involve a 15-year jail sentence,» before adding that the case has already been brought before a South African court. «The accused will make his first appearance on January 19, 2023,» he concluded.
In response, the South African Presidency said in a statement released via its website that Ramaphosa «rejects in the strongest terms Zuma’s abuse of legal process and the perversion of ‘nolle prosequi’ (dismissal).»
In this regard, he has explained that these types of proceedings «can only be initiated after the prosecuting individual has obtained a certificate of dismissal,» which serves as «legal confirmation that the prosecution will not proceed with the case after considering the charges.»
«Zuma has not filed such a certificate with the charges on behalf of Ramaphosa,» he has detailed, before noting that the request «is a total disregard for the law.» «Zuma’s charges are based on an allegation that Ramaphosa failed to act when he complained about improper conduct by Downer and (Andrew) Breitenbach,» he specified.
«These charges are totally false and unfounded,» he has said, before assuring that «Ramaphosa responded promptly to Zuma’s letter indicating the steps he had taken, including notifying the Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services, which oversees the NPA.»
Finally, he has emphasized that Ramaphosa «does not interfere in the work of the NPA nor does he have any powers to do so.» «The President has responded to Zuma and has taken all permissible legal action,» the Presidency reiterated, without giving further details.
Downer is the prosecutor leading a corruption trial against Zuma over alleged corruption in an arms deal with French company Thales, whose hearings have been adjourned until January 30. The former president is seeking to have the prosecutor recuse himself from the case.
Zuma, who has always denied the allegations, faces up to 25 years in prison if found guilty. His imprisonment earlier this year for contempt of court sparked one of the worst waves of violence seen in South Africa since the apartheid regime, leaving some 350 people dead.
Although he was released on medical grounds in September, the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein ruled in November that the release was illegal and ordered his return to prison, although the South African Prison Service announced an appeal.
Zuma was the first democratically elected president in South Africa to be sentenced to prison since the African National Congress (ANC)–the party he headed between 2007 and 2017, when he was sidelined in an internal council by his deputy president and current leader, Cyril Ramaphosa–seized power in 1994.
