Former President, Jacob Zuma is expected to continue with his private prosecution matter in the High Court in Johannesburg on Thursday. President Cyril Ramaphosa, however, is not required to appear before the criminal court.
Zuma launched a private prosecution bid against Ramaphosa for allegedly contravening the NPA Act on the alleged disclosure of his medical records.
The court found that Ramaphosa would suffer irreparable harm if he were to be hauled before a court for a process that he claims is unlawful.
Legal Analyst Reitumetse Phiri says Zuma’s legal representatives are obligated to go to court despite the interdict.
Phiri says, “This is not surprising and does not imply that the private prosecution will proceed against the backdrop of the interdict that had been issued to put a halt to these proceedings… Why Mr Zuma’s legal representatives would be attending court tomorrow, is because the matter has been enrolled and as such they would need to articulate to the court what will happen to the matter, postponed… If they didn’t attend then the matter would be struck off the roll automatically by the court.”
Meanwhile, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s challenge of former President Jacob Zuma’s private prosecution bid against him will be heard on May 17th and 18th. Ramaphosa recently won the first round in the legal showdown between him and his predecessor when the High Court in Johannesburg granted him an interim interdict pending the outcome of his application.
President Ramaphosa’s bid against Zuma: Sinawo Makangela
