By Marcus Moloko
Former president Jacob Zuma is back in the Pietermaritzburg High Court in connection with his long-running arms deal corruption trial, seeking leave to appeal a judgment that dismissed his attempt to quash the case.
Zuma appeared on Thursday alongside representatives of French arms company Thales, his co-accused, as both seek permission to challenge an earlier ruling that refused to halt the prosecution.
Zuma faces multiple counts of fraud, corruption, money laundering and racketeering linked to South Africa’s multibillion-rand 1990s arms procurement programme.
Thales is accused of agreeing to pay him bribes through a stream of payments allegedly channelled via his former financial adviser, Schabir Shaik, who was convicted of fraud and corruption in 2005 for his role in the scheme.
Zuma faces charges of fraud, corruption, and money laundering, while Thales stands accused of bribing him through a series of payments allegedly facilitated by his former financial adviser, Schabir Shaik.
Thales’ legal team has argued that the deaths of two former executives, Pierre Moynot and Alain Thetard, have severely undermined the company’s ability to mount a fair defence.
Both men were central figures in the company’s dealings during the arms procurement process, and their absence, the defence has said, makes it impossible to fully test key aspects of the state’s case.
Prosecutors have countered that the matter has already been delayed for years and that the public interest in seeing the arms deal allegations ventilated in open court outweighs the defence’s objections.
The National Prosecuting Authority has insisted the matter must proceed to trial.
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