Pretoria - Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane has demanded that corruption charges against President Jacob Zuma be reinstated.
This comes after the National Prosecuting Authority's decision seven years ago to drop 783 charges against Zuma was found irrational and set aside by the High Court in Pretoria on Friday.
“Jacob Zuma is not fit to be the president of this country,” Maimane told reporters.
“The decision that they took was irrational and we still maintain that Jacob Zuma is corrupt. Jacob Zuma must face the full might of the law. He has already violated the constitution. There is no debate about that.”
Local and international journalists packed the court on Friday morning for the ruling in the application by the DA for review of the NPA's decision.
The judgment was delivered by Deputy Judge President Aubrey Ledwaba on behalf of a full bench of judges. He was flanked by Judge Cynthia Pretorius and Judge Billy Mothle.
“During argument, counsel for Mr Zuma stated that his client needed a response from the NPA as he was due to be sworn-in as the president of the Republic of South Africa within a few weeks,” Ledwaba said as he delivered judgment.
“(Mokotedi) Mpshe (then acting National Director of Public Prosecutions) was subjected to such pressure that he could not afford the time and space to properly apply his mind on the implications of what he was about to do. He failed to exercise and apply the balancing act of the two imperatives necessary for the consideration of the abuse of process doctrine.”
Ledwaba said Mpshe's thinking and behaviour was irrational, especially his failure to disclose his decision to prosecutors until the moment he announced it to the nation at a news conference.
“Mr Zuma should face the charges as applied in the indictment,” Ledwaba said, summarising the unanimous ruling.
Mpshe threw the case out on the basis that the so-called spy tapes - recordings of tapped phone calls between senior officials in the Thabo Mbeki administration - suggested they manipulated the timing of Zuma's indictment on fraud, corruption and racketeering charges for political reasons.
The DA maintained that this was not sufficient reason to withdrew the charges, and Selfe reiterated on the eve of the judgment that his party believed that issue should instead have been aired in trial court.
It was not immediately clear whether Zuma would appeal.
The judgment does not automatically reinstate the charges against Zuma, a decision that can only come from the prosecuting authorities.
Shaun Abrahams, head of the National Prosecuting Authority, told Reuters he was studying the ruling.
South Africa's rand rose towards a four-month high after the ruling, while government bonds also firmed.
African News Agency and Reuters