Top S.African court: Zuma corruption charges reinstated

By Hassan Isilow

JOHANNESBURG (AA) - South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal on Friday upheld a lower court decision to reinstate hundreds of corruption charges against President Jacob Zuma, local media reported.

Former National Prosecution Authority boss Mokotedi Mphse withdrew 783 corruption charges against Zuma eight years ago, just weeks before he was elected president.

A high court in the capital Pretoria ruled earlier this year that Mphse’s decision was “irrational” in the absence of a court process, saying the charges should be reinstated.

The NPA and Zuma appealed that ruling, but Supreme Court Judge Lorimer Leach agreed that it made no sense to set the charges aside.

“It is difficult to understand why the present regime at the National Prosecuting Authority considered that the decision to terminate the prosecution could be defended,” Leach said.

Charges against Zuma include corruption, racketeering, and fraud linked to a 1999 multibillion-dollar government arms deal.

In 2009, Mphse said he was withdrawing corruption charges against Zuma after telephone recordings between senior officials of ex-President Thabo Mbeki emerged showing they had manipulated Zuma’s case for political ends.

Last month, arguing in their appeal, Zuma’s lawyer and the NPA conceded that the former NPA head was incorrect in withdrawing the charges.