Pretoria: Former South African President Jacob Zuma is facing 16 charges of fraud, graft and racketeering relating to the purchase of fighter jets, patrol boats and military gear in 1999 from five European arms firms in a deal worth almost £3.5 billion at the time.
The prosecution of Zuma, 79, is regarded as a key test of the power of his successor, Cyril Ramaphosa, to fulfil his promise to stamp out corruption. Earlier Zuma’s legal team, led by Thabani Masuku, told Pietermaritzburg high court that he planned to apply for the removal of Billy Downer, the prosecutor, from the case. The application is expected to be lodged soon. The trial is then due to get under way next week and Zuma is expected to enter a not guilty plea. More than 200 witnesses could be called.
After the adjourned hearing, Zuma addressed a crowd of well- wishers and led them in singing Umshiniwami (Bring me my machine gun), a song from the anti-apartheid struggle. In 2018 Zuma was forced by the ANC to resign as scandals stacked up against him, and was replaced by Ramaphosa, 68, who vowed to fight corruption.
The case has been dropped and postponed numerous times over the years as Zuma, who was president between 2009 and 2018, lodged a defence against charges that he first faced in 2005. When he became president prosecutors claimed that the charges were politically motivated and abandoned the case. In 2017 the country’s highest court overturned that decision.
