Durban - Former President Jacob Zuma suffered another legal setback on Thursday morning when a judge dismissed his application to appeal a September 6 ruling that compelled him to apologise to former tourism minister, Derek Hanekom, for calling him a “known enemy agent.”
The ruling also compelled Zuma to remove the tweet he made on July 25 this year and it did not rule on the cost of the lawsuit brought by Hanekom who contended that Zuma was saying he was an apartheid spy.
But a defiant Zuma lodged an appeal, arguing that his tweet was taken out of context and contending that another court may rule differently. However, handing down the much-awaited judgment at the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Thursday morning, Judge Dhaya Pillay dismissed Zuma’s application with costs, saying that an appeal has no prospects of succeeding in a higher court.
"The order is granted as follows: The application for leave to appeal is dismissed with costs," Judge Pillay ruled.
Zuma who is facing two more legal battles (VBS liquidators wants him to pay back a R7.3 million loan he took to pay non-security upgardes at his Nkandla home), would return to the same court of November 22.
His high-powered team of three lawyers would be arguing why the court should grant them permission to appeal to the Supreme Court an October 11 ruling which turned down his request to have his corruption charges permanently squashed as the case has been contaminated.
* More details about the ruling will follow shortly.