DA believes deal on Zuma’s legal fees is illegitimate

The Democratic Alliance says it is convinced that the deal referred to by President Cyril Ramaphosa this week that guarantees that the state will pay for Jacob Zuma’s legal defence could not have been reached lawfully.

“Our legal team has written to the President to request a copy of this agreement. We will not hesitate to challenge it if we believe it is illegitimate‚” DA leader Mmusi Maimane stated on Saturday.

He was speaking after a two-day meeting of the party’s federal executive.

“It simply cannot be acceptable for the public to keep footing the bill for Zuma’s “delay at all costs” legal strategy – especially as Zuma is fighting this legal battle in his personal capacity.

“If Jacob Zuma wants to abuse legal process to avoid prison‚ he should be prepared to pay for it himself‚” the DA leader asserted.

In the meantime‚ he said‚ the DA looked forward to the commencement of the Zuma criminal trial without any further delay.

“We will vigorously oppose any further delay tactics by Zuma or the state‚” Maimane added.

Prosecutions boss Shaun Abrahams announced on Friday that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) would reinstate fraud and corruption charges against former president Jacob Zuma.

Ramaphosa stated earlier this week that Zuma had given an undertaking that he would pay for his own legal fees should he be found to have acted in his personal capacity.

Maimane said the DA had fought for a nine-year battle to have the charges against Zuma reinstated after they were “illegally and irrationally dropped just before the 2009 election to clear the way for Zuma to be elected President without the cloud of criminal charges over his head”.

But he added that while this victory was cause for celebration‚ it must be pointed out that none of the various National Directors of Public Prosecution who served through the Zuma presidency had acted with the requisite independence and moral courage required of that office.

“They served Jacob Zuma as their political masters‚ and when he was gone‚ they found the spine to act against him.

“We cannot rest until we have a truly independent National Director of Prosecutions‚ and a truly independent NPA. That is why I asked President Ramaphosa on Tuesday whether he would support a greater role for Parliament in a more transparent and credible appointment process for the NDPP‚” Maimane said.