ConCourt hears Zuma bid to avoid R29m legal-fees repayment

Staff Reporter

Former president Jacob Zuma is expected to ask the Constitutional Court on Wednesday to overturn a ruling that he repay nearly R29 million in public money spent on his private legal battles.

Zuma is challenging a Gauteng High Court order that he repay R28,960,774.34, plus interest, to the Office of the State Attorney for legal fees incurred in his criminal prosecution and related litigation over several years.

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The case is the latest stage in a long-running battle over whether the state was entitled to fund Zuma’s private legal defence, including litigation linked to his arms-deal corruption prosecution.

The Democratic Alliance and Economic Freedom Fighters previously challenged the arrangement, arguing that taxpayers should not be made to fund Zuma’s personal legal costs.

In 2018, the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria