President Zuma's Legal Setback: "The Spy Tape 783 Corruption Cases" back on the Table

SOUTH AFRICA - In Brief 13 Oct 2017 by Iraj Abedian
Today, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) ruled against President and the National Prosecuting Agency (NPA), declaring that the NPA's decision, back in 2007, to drop the charges of corruption and fraud against the then Deputy President of the ANC, Mr Zuma, was irrational, flawed and illegal. The case came to be known as "the Spy Tape Case"., involving 783 cases of fraud, money laundering and corruption. Significantly, that momentous NPA decision enabled Mr Zuma to stand for the presidency of the ANC in its December 2007 Elective Congress, followed by his ascendancy to the country's presidency in 2009. In many respect,s that flawed decision changed the course of history for the ANC and for South Africa over the past 10 years, and possibly for many years to come. A decade later, Mr Zuma has managed to use every conceivable legal and political angle to avoid appearing in the court. Today's court ruling places the case back at the doorof the Director of the NPA. Given the separation of powers within the Constitution, the SCA cannot instruct the NPA to commence prosecution of President Zuma. This, in effect, puts the onus back on the current Director of NPA.- Adv. Shaun Abrahams. Mr Abrahams is regarded as a rock of support for President Zuma. All eyes are now on him to make sure that he will make a legally rational and credible call. Due to his near-total inaction, Mr Abrahams has earned the nickname "sleepy Shaun". He is not likely to move fast. In any event, the legal experts differ on whether or not Mr Abrahrams has much room to exercise judgement in this case. Whatever the legal merits or otherwise, one thing is for sure: SA's political scene is now gotten so much more ...

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