South Africa: NPA Won't Get Involved in Ramaphosa and Zuma Legal Squabble, High Court Hears

analysis

The two-day hearing to listen to arguments between lawyers for President Cyril Ramaphosa and former president Jacob Zuma began in court on Wednesday.

The National Prosecuting Authority says it refuses to take sides in the ongoing legal squabble between President Cyril Ramphosa and former president Jacob Zuma.

The Director of Public Prosecutions in KwaZulu-Natal and the NPA are listed as the second and third respondents in a case before the Gauteng Division of the high court in Johannesburg.

Former president Zuma attended the proceedings personally, along with his daughter Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla. Allies Carl Niehaus and Ace Magashule were also present.

Former President Jacob Zuma has several supporters in court for the case relating to his private prosecution against President Cyril Ramaphosa. Carl Niehaus and Ace Magashule is among those present. #RamaphosavsZuma-- Dianne Hawker (@diannehawker) May 17, 2023

Ramaphosa has taken Zuma to court to try and interdict a private prosecution that Zuma instituted in December 2022, shortly before the ANC's elective conference. Zuma has accused Ramaphosa of being an accessory to a crime in his ongoing private prosecution against Billy Downer SC.

Advocate Frank Mothibedi SC, representing the NPA, told the court the NPA would not debate the merits of the case but provided the factual position relating to the nolle prosequi certificates that Zuma has relied on in his...

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