FORMER President Jacob Zuma said he will oppose Thursday’s application by the Helen Suzman Foundation (HSF) and others who want to join Advocate Billy Downer’s legal challenge to the private prosecution that Zuma has brought against him as friends of the court.
Zuma said the application was misguided as he is not attacking media freedom but is challenging the leaking of his confidential medical information.
Zuma is not expected to appear in the Pietermaritzburg High Court for the matter.
Zuma is instituting the private prosecution against Downer and News24 journalist Karyn Maughan for the alleged leaking of documents about his medical condition ahead of an application for an adjournment of his criminal trial on the grounds of ill health.
Downer is the lead prosecutor in the arms deal corruption case in which Zuma is currently on trial in the Pietermaritzburg High Court.
Apart from HSF, the Campaign for Free Expression, Media Monitoring Africa Trust and the South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) want to be admitted as amici curiae in Maughan’s challenge.
Spokesperson for the Jacob Zuma Foundation Mzwanele Manyi said: “The whole approach is to create an approach that Zuma has a problem with media freedom but this is not the case.
“The issue here is that information, that was not part of the court record, was shared. This was totally irregular as it was not before the court, did not have a stamp of the court registrar and Downer did not commission an affidavit,” said Manyi.
“The information was embargoed and the NPA Act says that it could not have been shared without the express permission of the National Director for Public Prosecution.”
Downer and Maughan have both filed applications asking the court to dismiss the case.
Zuma initiated the private prosecution after the NPA declined to prosecute.
Previously, Downer had lodged an application for the judge to review the amount that Zuma had paid for as security.
The former president had paid R90 000 but Downer wanted him to put down R1 million, saying the amount paid by Zuma is insufficient to cover the costs of legal counsel.
Downer, in papers filed to the court, argued that Zuma is under financial pressure as the curator of VBS Mutual Bank had recently secured an execution order against the former president for non payment of a loan.
Downer said he was not confident that Zuma could settle the costs of his defence, given the legal costs and that the matter could run for ten days or more.
Manyi had said in response that Downer was using tactics to delay the court appearance.