Johannesburg -
The National Prosecuting Authority has argued that the full Bench of the high court in Pretoria went too far in ruling that President Jacob Zuma should face corruption charges.
The court ruled in April that former NPA head Mokotedi Mpshe’s decision to drop charges against Zuma was irrational and he should face the charges in his indictment.
Mpshe’s decision was based on the spy tapes obtained by Zuma’s lawyers which showed former Scorpions boss Leonard McCarthy had political motives in deciding the timing of serving Zuma with an indictment.
In its application for leave to appeal the court ruling, the NPA has argued that by saying Zuma should face the charges, the court was interfering with the head of the NPA’s protected discretion.
The NPA’s advocate, Hilton Epstein, said the court had erred in its conclusion and believed there were good prospects that the Supreme Court of Appeal could find differently. “With respect, the court went too far in saying that he should face charges in the indictment,” said Epstein.
These were among the grounds on which the NPA believed its case had reasonable prospects of success at the SCA.
He said once the corruption case against the president was struck off the roll, the head of the NPA had the discretion to decide whether or not to reinstate the charges.
According to Epstein, Mpshe would have acted in bad faith had he continued with the prosecution knowing very well there had been an abuse of process. “It may happen that during the course of prosecution certain facts come to light and he (the NDPP) is entitled to change his mind,” he said.
Epstein had to fend off questions from the full Bench of judges on Mpshe’s decision, including why he had based his decision to discontinue the prosecution based on untested allegations. They said the spy tapes he had relied on had not been authorised by a judge, that the allegations made in the spy tapes had not been tested and McCarthy was not given an opportunity to respond to the allegations.
The DA, which is opposing the application for leave to appeal, said it was not convinced by the legal arguments put forward by the NPA and Zuma’s lawyer Kemp J Kemp.
Pretoria News Weekend