Pietermaritzburg – Another legal setback for former President Jacob Zuma after Pietermaritzburg High Court Judge Piet Koen dismissed his application to appeal the Advocate Billy Downer SC recusal ruling.
Koen, giving several reasons, said he sees no prospects of success even if the matter is heard by the Supreme Court of Appeal and his corruption must go ahead in April.
There was less activity and police presence than usual at the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Wednesday, hours before the court rules on whether former President Jacob Zuma can appeal the Billy Downer recusal ruling.
The less activity and hype around the ruling could be attributed to the fact that the Jacob Zuma Foundation said the former head of state would not be present in court to receive the judgment by Judge Piet Koen. Instead, his legal team was going to receive it on his behalf.
Despite the fact that Zuma would not be at court, some of his supporters and relatives came to the court. Among the relatives who were spotted outside the court was Thobani Zuma, the former deputy mayor of uMsunduzi (Pietermaritzburg) who was spotted with another person who was in full ANC regalia at the gates of the court.
Also spotted was long time Zuma supporters, Carl Niehaus and the spokesperson of the Jacob Zuma Foundation, Mzwanele Manyi.
At the park across the high court where Zuma supporters normally gather while waiting for the court sessions to end and have him address them, only a handful were seen.
PICS: Outside the Pietermaritzburg High Court as supporters and relatives of former President #JacobZuma waits for Judge Piet Koen to rule whether Zuma can appeal the Billy Downer recusal ruling. The Jacob Zuma foundation said Zuma would not personally come to court. @ pic.twitter.com/nUxcl5vwMc
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) February 16, 2022
Taking no chances, security personnel came out in their numbers to secure the court’s vicinity. Chief among them was a battalion from the SAPS who came in vans and Nyala armoured vehicles to cordon off the area.
The main road passing in front of the court was cordoned off and only accredited people and those with court cases were allowed to pass and access the high court.
In the main, Zuma wants to be granted permission to approach the Supreme Court of Appeal in his legal fight to force senior NPA prosecutor, advocate Billy Downer SC out as the lead prosecutor of his arms deal corruption trial.
This follows a January 31, 2022 decision by Judge Piet Koen to reserve his judgment following a day-long oral argument by Zuma’s legal team led by advocate Dali Mpofu SC which argued that another court may rule differently.
This was after in October last year, Judge Koen dismissed Zuma’s application, citing among other reasons, that it was wrongly filed and most of the arguments he raised had been previously dealt with by other courts.
Zuma is accusing Downer of compromising bias against him and having acted unlawfully on several occasions while handling confidential information. In his long arguments, Zuma also accused Downer of previously leaking information about his corruption trial to third and unauthorised parties, including CIA spies and some local media houses. Furthermore, he also accused Downer of leaking his confidential medical report to a journalist.
Spotted outside the court on Wednesday before the matter could be heard, the spokesperson of the NPA, Mthunzi Mhaga said they were only praying for victory.
“We are hopeful that the court is going to rule in our favour,” Mhaga told Independent Media when asked about the pending judgment.
Even if Judge Koen turns Zuma down, the former president can directly petition the Supreme Court of Appeal to hear the matter.
