The Jacob G Zuma Foundation has rejected a statement by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) over its attempted private prosecution of President Cyril Ramaphosa. On 22 December, the foundation labelled a statement by the NPA as “an improper and professional attempt by the NPA to play judge” in an interpretation of its own certificate, which is currently at the centre of the “dispute” over the private prosecution against Ramaphosa.

On Thursday, the foundation said this was “totally unheard of”. This is the latest in the saga involving former state president Jacob Zuma and Ramaphosa.

On 21 December, the NPA released a statement saying it had noted the summons issued in relation to the current President. The NPA said it had issued two nolle prosequi certificates in good faith and in compliance with Section 7 of the Criminal Procedure Act. The certificates, the NPA said, were issued in direct relation to the docket Pietermaritzburg CAS 309/10/21 — which contained statements and affidavits relating to specific individuals for alleged contravention of Section 41 (6) read with Section 41(7) of the NPA Act.

“The nolle certificates apply to any persons who are specifically mentioned in the docket. The President was not mentioned in any of the affidavits or statements and thus the certificates were not issued in relation to him” read the NPA statement, issued by Advocate Rodney de Kock, the Head of Prosecution Services.

The NPA said any further clarification would be provided in court “should the matter be litigated”.

THE NPA CLARIFIES NOLLE PROSEQUI CERTIFICATES pic.twitter.com/o9FvG0mM3z

— NPASouthAfrica (@NPA_Prosecutes) December 21, 2022

The foundation responded to the statement and said “this statement is demonstrably false and nothing but a thinly veiled attempt to rescue Mr Ramaphosa”.

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“It is therefore totally mind-boggling how any member of the NPA who has had any sight of the docket can even begin to falsely state that the President is not mentioned in the docket,” said the foundation via a statement released on social media on Thursday morning.

“Indeed even if the denial was true, it would still be for the NPA to so blatantly take sides in favour of a criminal suspect,” the foundation said.

In addition, the foundation has challenged the NPA “to tell the country once and for all whether it is prepared to prosecute Mr Ramaphosa as an accessory in respect of the offences raised in the police complaint”.

The matter relates to Zuma announcing on 15 December — one day before the start of the ANC’s 55th National Conference — that he would privately prosecute Ramaphosa in relation to “being an accessory after the fact in the crimes committed by among others Adv [Billy] Downer namely, breaching the provisions of the NPA Act”.

BREAKING
President Ramaphosa criminaly charged pic.twitter.com/W8HIL00sHP

— JGZuma Foundation (Official) (@JGZ_Foundation) December 15, 2022

According to the JG Zuma Foundation, these charges could carry a 15-year prison sentence. Experts have described the attempted private prosecution as nonsense, as explained by Daily Maverick’s Rebecca Davis.

Read in Daily Maverick: Zuma’s attempt to privately prosecute Ramaphosa is nonsense, say experts

The Presidency has rejected the statement, with the Presidency calling it an “abuse of legal processes and perversion of the ‘nolle prosequi’ (private prosecution) provision”. The Presidency also said Zuma had not provided such a certificate with charges in the name of President Ramaphosa. “The summons served to the President is hopelessly sub-standard and demonstrates absolute disregard of the law,” read the statement, issued by presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya.

Currently, Downer and Zuma are locked in court battles — with Downer leading the case against Zuma in the Arms Deal matter. Zuma has tried to prosecute Downer for what he claims was the release of private medical information to News24 journalist Karyn Maughan, whom Zuma has also laid charges against.

Read in Daily Maverick: Ready to rumble: Zuma ups the ante and files criminal charges against prosecutor Billy Downer

The foundation said, “the NPA must stay out of this dispute and humble itself to the final say of the courts”. According to Zuma’s foundation, the case would be heard on 19 January 2023 at the Johannesburg high court. DM