$2.5bn arms deal: SA prosecutor turns down Zuma’s request to delay court case

Tuesday, June 5, 2018 1:58 pm

Former South African President, Jacob Zuma

South Africa’s national prosecutor has turned down a request by former president Jacob Zuma to delay a hearing over a 2.5 billion dollars arms deal , a spokesman for the prosecutor said on Tuesday.

The case will resume on Friday.

Zuma faces 16 charges including fraud, racketeering and money laundering relating to a 1990s deal to buy European military hardware to upgrade South Africa’s post-apartheid armed forces.

Zuma, who has denied any wrongdoing, was in court in April in a procedural appearance.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) on March 22, said it would seek to prosecute Zuma on 16 charges, including fraud, racketeering, corruption and money laundering.

Zuma, who was forced to resign by his ruling African National Congress in February, was at the centre of a 1990s deal to buy European military kit that has cast a shadow over politics in South Africa for years.

Zuma was deputy president at the time of the arms deal.

The 16 counts were filed against Zuma but then dropped by the NPA shortly before he successfully ran for president in 2009. Since his election nine years ago, his opponents have fought a lengthy legal battle to have the charges reinstated.

Zuma countered with his own legal challenges. (Reuters/NAN)