Former president Jacob Zuma has made a veiled threat of more possible private prosecutions against the country’s top brass, which could include National Director of Public Prosecutions Shamila Batohi or even Justice Minister Ronald Lamola.
FORMER president Jacob Zuma has made a veiled threat of more possible private prosecutions against the country’s top brass, which could include National Director of Public Prosecutions Shamila Batohi or even Justice Minister Ronald Lamola.
Addressing a crowd of supporters gathered outside the Pietermaritzburg High Court before his private prosecution case against State advocate Billy Downer and News24 journalist Karyn Maughan on Monday, Zuma said the case was unprecedented and could be a taste of things to come.
In an earlier interview, Jacob Zuma Foundation spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi indicated that the criminal prosecution brought by the former president had been prompted by non-action from the government.
“President Zuma reported the matter to President Cyril Ramaphosa and nothing was done; he went to Justice Minister Ronald Lamola, again nothing was done; and then went to National Director of Public Prosecutions Shamila Batohi and nothing was done and that is why we are here,” Manyi told the media after the case was adjourned on Monday.
In the case, Zuma has brought a private prosecution to prosecute Downer and Maughan for contravention of Section 41(6) of the National Prosecuting Act for the alleged leaking of his medical records. This comes after the NPA declined to prosecute the case.
When the matter was called on Monday, it was adjourned to next February. This is to allow applications brought by Downer and Maughan to stop the case, to be heard in December.
Zuma said the case should serve as an illustration that no one is above the law.
“Usually, it is me who is in the dock, but today we decided to lay charges against the prosecutor because he broke the law. The prosecutor is not supposed to leak information to journalists and reveal court secrets because that amounts to breaking the law,” Zuma said to the crowd.
He said that his move was driven by a desire to see justice and equality and to indicate that prosecutors and journalists were not above law.
“Today the prosecutor is the accused and the judge was emphatic that if they do not honour the 9.30am, February 2, 2023 court date they would be arrested,” said Zuma.
“Today these two were in court but more people could face similar charges.”
Media24 editor-in-chief Adriaan Basson, who attended the case, labelled the matter a farce, saying they would not allow it to intimidate them.
“I think this is quite a concerning day for journalism in South Africa where a politician and specifically a former president can drag a journalist into the dock for criminal prosecution. We do not mind being sued, of course people have the right to sue us for defamation. This (case) is dangerous for media freedom in the country,” said Basson.
He added that they would be back in court on December 8 for their application to have the matter set aside as they believed that it amounted to an abuse of power.
