The Supreme Court of Appeal has not granted president Jacob Zuma leave to appeal the reinstatement of corruption charges against him, saying he and his lawyers must argue in open court why it should be granted.<\/p>\n
Zuma was looking for leave to appeal a ruling from April 2016, where the full\u00a0bench of the North Gauteng High Court ruled in April that the 783 fraud, racketeering and corruption charges against Zuma should be reinstated.<\/p>\n
On April 6, 2009, then-NPA head Mokotedi Mpshe said transcripts of telephone conversations between then-Scorpions boss Leonard McCarthy and former NPA boss Bulelani Ngcuka, showed political interference in the decision to charge Zuma.<\/p>\n
The charges were withdrawn in the High Court in Durban on April 7, 2009, paving the way for Zuma to become president of the country.<\/p>\n
In April, the\u00a0High Court ruled that the decision to discontinue the prosecution against the president should be reviewed and set aside.<\/p>\n
Further, leave to appeal the ruling was denied by the High Court,\u00a0forcing Zuma to approach the Supreme Court of Appeal directly.<\/p>\n
The NPA, meanwhile, skipped the SCA completely, and approached the ConCourt directly.<\/p>\n
The prosecuting authority believed that the matter is a Constitutional one, because the head of the NPA has the discretion, constitutionally, to withdraw criminal charges, and was now effectively being forced to change.<\/p>\n
The NPA also said it approached the ConCourt because of the significance of the case \u2013 involving the president of the country, thus having great public interest.<\/p>\n
The ConCourt refused to hear the case.<\/p>\n
In Wednesday’s ruling, the SCA referred the application for leave to appeal for open arguments, requesting that the president and his lawyers argue in open court for why it should be granted.<\/p>\n
All parties have three months to file all the relevant documentation, the SCA said.<\/p>\n
ConCourt refuses to hear NPA appeal on Zuma corruption charges \u2013 DA<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Zuma corruption battle skips SCA \u2013 going straight to the Constitutional Court<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Zuma corruption appeal has slim chance of success: former NPA head<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n