THE Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in Bloemfontein dismissed Jacob Zuma’s appeal with costs on a punitive scale against a judgment of the Pretoria high court, which held that the state is not liable for the legal costs incurred by him in his personal capacity.
The SCA upheld an earlier High Court judgment that the state must recover at least R15 million from Zuma.
The SCA said in a statement on Tuesday that the fact that Mr Zuma held high office in the executive did not mean that in representing him, the State Attorney was acting ‘on behalf’ of the government.
“In rejecting Mr Zuma’s argument that the State has an interest in ‘protecting a government official’, the SCA held that ‘the government and the public have an interest in protecting the rule of law, ensuring accountability and good governance, all of which is achieved by prosecuting without delay’,” the SCA said in a statement.
“The suggested that the government and the public can hardly have a legitimate interest in supporting a defence against criminal charges by an incumbent or former public office bearer, and especially not in respect of charges of dishonesty and corruption. Allowing officials to resist being held accountable, by drawing on state resources to obstruct or delay a prosecution, subverts the government’s and the public’s interest.”
The latest decision was an appeal by Zuma to the SCA after the High Court in 2018 ordered the State Attorney to recover the money spent on Zuma’s legal fees.
The appellate court confirmed that state funding for Zuma’s personal legal costs in his corruption case was ‘unlawful, unconstitutional and invalid’.
The appellate said it was shocking for Zuma to have been granted what the court calls ‘a blank cheque’ to pay private lawyers.
The SCA accordingly dismissed the appeal with costs including those of two counsels to be paid on the attorney and client scale.
In 2018, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the Democratic Alliance (DA) went to court to ensure that Zuma paid back the costs for his legal representation paid for by the state.
President Cyril Ramaphosa replied to a parliamentary question by the EFF that the state had spent R15.3 million on Zuma’s legal costs since 2016.
“While it has not been possible to locate a written agreement between the presidency and Zuma in this respect‚ the presidency does have copies of undertakings signed by Zuma on August 22 2006 and September 26 2008‚” Ramaphosa said in a statement in 2018.
- Inside Politics
