Johannesburg - The clock is ticking for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to decide whether or not former President Jacob Zuma’s wife Nompumelelo Ntuli-Zuma (MaNtuli) is still a suspect in the 2014 case of alleged poisoning of the then president.
MaNtuli’s lawyer, Ulrich Roux, told Independent Media on Tuesday that should they not get a satisfactory answer from the head of the NPA, Advocate Shamila Batohi, they will then head to court to seek legal relief that would help clear MaNtuli’s name.
Asked exactly what is the time frame for them to go to court for the relief, Roux refused to be drawn on the specifics.
“If we don’t receive a timeous response from the NPA, we will take instructions from our client (MaNtuli) regarding the matter and approach the High Court of South Africa,” he said.
MaNtuli was allegedly fingered in a plot to kill Zuma by poisoning him. As a result of being a prime suspect in the matter, she was allegedly instructed by the then State Security minister, David Mahlobo, to vacate the large Nkandla home of Zuma.
Roux, in the letter sent to Batohi on April 10 this year, asked her revert to him “as a matter of urgency pertaining to the status of this matter.”
“Please revert to me as a matter of urgency pertaining to the status of this matter and whether my client is still regarded as a suspect herein. This matter has been hanging over my client’s head since June 2015,” he said in the letter that the NPA has confirmed receiving. The prosecuting authority said it could not provide additional comment.