Lawyers representing former President Jacob Zuma have lost an appeal in which he was challenging the ruling by the High Court in Pretoria to disclose a record of decisions for his March 2017 cabinet reshuffle.
The president’s legal team submitted in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in Bloemfontein that former President Zuma was exercising his powers in terms of the Constitution to effect Cabinet changes.
The cabinet reshuffle led to the sacking of former Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and his then deputy, Mcebisi Jonas, resulting in markets tumbling, with the rand noise diving.
The Democratic Alliance (DA), particularly, called for disclosure of an alleged ‘intelligence report’, that is said to have informed the reshuffle.
However, the President’s legal team argued in the SCA that the High Court decision was unprecedented, and therefore even in the absence of the review application, there was a compelling reason for the Appeal Court to intervene.
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