Former deputy president in court over corruption scandal

Dismissed Deputy President Jacob Zuma, cheered on by hundreds of supporters and shielded by a massive security operation, appeared in court today on corruption charges involving his financial adviser and two French arms companies.

Zuma, who retains huge support among the rank and file of the African National Congress, made his third court appearance in a scandal that has divided the governing party and thrown open the question of who will succeed President Thabo Mbeki – once virtually certain to be Zuma.

Top ANC and parliamentary officials were present in the Durban Magistrates Court as hundreds of supporters, waving flags, blowing trumpets, dancing and singing traditional protest songs from the anti-apartheid era, demonstrated outside. Police cordoned off the entire area as a protective measure and a helicopter hovered overhead.

The court appearance was brief, with the judge formally detailing the two charges against Zuma, stemming from the trial of his former financial adviser, Schabir Shaik, who is appealing against a 15-year jail sentence for fraud and corruption.

Shaik was found to have made payments amounting to some 1.2 million rand (€151,000) to Zuma over a number of years to help fund a lavish lifestyle.

The judge in that case also concluded that Zuma was aware of Shaik’s efforts to facilitate a yearly payment of 500,000 rand (€62,500) to the ex-deputy president from Thint Holdings – formerly Thomson CSF – to deflect corruption investigations into a 1999 arms deal with the South African government.

Anton Steynberg, the Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, said Zuma was not just aware of these efforts but was party to them.

Zuma’s co-accused, Thint Holdings and sister company Thint Ltd. – subsidiaries of French defence electronics company Thales SA – were not required to be in court before the start of the trial on July 31 in the Durban High Court. Thales’ local director, Pierre Moynot, has denied Zuma ever requested or received money from the company.

Zuma, who was dismissed in June but remains the number two in the ANC, has repeatedly protested his innocence and made clear he has not relinquished his ambition to become president.

Zuma’s lawyers told the Johannesburg weekly Mail & Guardian newspaper they are preparing an application to set aside the charges against their client.

It will be based on claims that the conduct of the investigation against Zuma - including raids on his lawyers’ offices – prejudiced his right to a fair trial, lawyer Michael Hulley was quoted as saying.