A full bench of the Pietermaritzburg High Court is expected to hand down judgement today in the urgent application of prosecutor Billy Downer and journalist Karyn Maughan, to enforce the suspension of their private prosecution by former president Jacob Zuma.
Zuma lodged an application for leave to appeal a ruling in June, that the private prosecution is unlawful and an abuse of the court process.
The former president is charging Downer, who is the lead prosecutor in his corruption trial, of illegally leaking a confidential doctor’s letter to Maughan in the course of the arms deal trial.
In their latest application, Downer and Maughan’s legal teams argued that they are in effect only asking the court to suspend the summons for their clients to appear in the private prosecution until Zuma’s appeal process is finalised.
The private prosecution is remanded until Friday.
In turn, advocate Dali Mpofu has argued on behalf of Zuma that applications about the validity of the private prosecution should be heard by the judge in the private prosecution.
Meanwhile, the Jacob Zuma Foundation says the former president will be present in court on Friday after receiving medical treatment in Russia.
VIDEO | Zuma returns to South Africa from Russia:
