ON THE last day of argument in the "spy tapes" case on Thursday, the Democratic Alliance (DA) stood by its decision not to ask the High Court to make an order that would result in the automatic reinstatement of corruption charges against President Jacob Zuma.
After two-and-a-half days of argument in the High Court in Pretoria, the three-judge bench will now have to decide whether the controversial 2009 decision to discontinue Mr Zuma’s prosecution was rational in law. If the court finds in favour of the DA, it will mean the NPA will have to look at the case against Mr Zuma afresh.
On Thursday, DA counsel Sean Rosenberg SC said it was "appropriate" to ask the court only to set aside the decision and leave any further steps to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
Counsel for the NPA and for Mr Zuma had earlier distinguished between the decision to withdraw the charges and the actual withdrawal, a separate legal act, which they said happened two days later in court. The withdrawal was therefore unchallenged, they argued, meaning a fresh decision would have to be made by the NPA.
While Mr Rosenberg described the court process as a "notification" of the withdrawal — implying he disagreed with the way it had been characterised by the NPA and Mr Zuma — it was "beyond what this court should be busy with" to order the reinstatement of charges. Mr Rosenberg also replied to the argument that it was in the public interest to discontinue the prosecution in the face of such serious allegations of political manipulation, saying the public interest was also served by ensuring people accused of serious crimes be tried.
Former prosecutions boss Mokotedi Mpshe justified his decision for dropping the charges based on an "abuse of process". Tapes (dubbed the "spy tapes) holding recordings of phone conversations between former prosecutions head Bulelani Ngcuka and erstwhile Scorpions boss Leonard McCarthy revealed manipulation of the timing of the indictment against Mr Zuma to influence the African National Congress’s 2007 elective conference.
But Mr Rosenberg said while the DA did not quibble with the proposition that Mr McCarthy’s conduct should be condemned, this did not detract from the "concession" by the NPA, that his conduct had an "insignificant" affect on the prosecution.
He said a rational decision on abuse of process required weighing up what could be done to punish the abuse with the important public interest in prosecuting serious charges. Judgment was reserved.
Sean Rosenberg. Picture: FREDDY MAVUNDA
ON THE last day of argument in the "spy tapes" case on Thursday, the Democratic Alliance (DA) stood by its decision not to ask the High Court to make an order that would result in the automatic reinstatement of corruption charges against President Jacob Zuma.
After two-and-a-half days of argument in the High Court in Pretoria, the three-judge bench will now have to decide whether the controversial 2009 decision to discontinue Mr Zuma’s prosecution was rational in law. If the court finds in favour of the DA, it will mean the NPA will have to look at the case against Mr Zuma afresh.
On Thursday, DA counsel Sean Rosenberg SC said it was "appropriate" to ask the court only to set aside the decision and leave any further steps to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
Counsel for the NPA and for Mr Zuma had earlier distinguished between the decision to withdraw the charges and the actual withdrawal, a separate legal act, which they said happened two days later in court. The withdrawal was therefore unchallenged, they argued, meaning a fresh decision would have to be made by the NPA.
While Mr Rosenberg described the court process as a "notification" of the withdrawal — implying he disagreed with the way it had been characterised by the NPA and Mr Zuma — it was "beyond what this court should be busy with" to order the reinstatement of charges. Mr Rosenberg also replied to the argument that it was in the public interest to discontinue the prosecution in the face of such serious allegations of political manipulation, saying the public interest was also served by ensuring people accused of serious crimes be tried.
Former prosecutions boss Mokotedi Mpshe justified his decision for dropping the charges based on an "abuse of process". Tapes (dubbed the "spy tapes) holding recordings of phone conversations between former prosecutions head Bulelani Ngcuka and erstwhile Scorpions boss Leonard McCarthy revealed manipulation of the timing of the indictment against Mr Zuma to influence the African National Congress’s 2007 elective conference.
But Mr Rosenberg said while the DA did not quibble with the proposition that Mr McCarthy’s conduct should be condemned, this did not detract from the "concession" by the NPA, that his conduct had an "insignificant" affect on the prosecution.
He said a rational decision on abuse of process required weighing up what could be done to punish the abuse with the important public interest in prosecuting serious charges. Judgment was reserved.
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