JOHANNESBURG – Former President Jacob Zuma’s lawyers will have a last chance on Friday to argue for his corruption case to be dismissed.
His legal team is expected to continue responding to the State’s argument opposing Zuma’s application for a stay of prosecution.
On Thursday, State lawyer Advocate Wim Trengove told the Pietermaritzburg High Court that Zuma was partly responsible for the unreasonable delays in getting his case on trial and that he has no evidence to prove the case against him was politically motivated.
Zuma faces charges of corruption, racketeering and money laundering related to the multi-billion rand arms deal.
The State and the defence have argued their case for and against a permanent stay of prosecution for Jacob Zuma and French arms company Thales.
Zuma’s lawyers told the court that he doesn’t have the means to finance his corruption trial, that he has been predicted and suffered reputational damage by unreasonable trial delays and that the case against him was politically motivated.
But the State fired back, saying Zuma did not have a shred of evidence to prove the case was influenced by politics.
It also argued that Zuma’s “Stalingrad approach” was partly to blame for the trial delays and that he also cannot rely on the spy tapes because the decision by former NPA head Mokotedi Mpshe to drop charges against him based on the tapes was found to be irrational by a court of law.
The lawyers will conclude their arguments today before the judges deliberate on their ruling.
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