Johannesburg - With the countdown to the crowning of the new ANC president close to being delivered, there is a looming threat. Incumbent party leader Cyril Ramaphosa faces more woes – he has to answer to the courts.
Former president Jacob Zuma instituted a private prosecution in the Johannesburg High Court, for which Ramaphosa is due to appear in court next year.
Last week, Zuma’s legal team said Ramaphosa had to attend the summons.
The court action means the head of state would have to step aside and effectively be excluded from the presidential race.
Mkhize had a clear lead over Ramaphosa, according to one of Mkhize's caucus leaders who spoke to the Independent Media but declined to be named.
According to the legal letter, Ramaphosa had omitted and/or failed to take action and/or institute or cause to be instituted an inquiry against any of the officials and/or state functionaries complained about, thereby wrongfully, unlawfully and intentionally acting in furtherance of the commission of the said offences or to take any steps to bring the perpetrators and/or accomplices to justice.
Consequently, said Zuma, Ramaphosa was guilty of contravening the National Prosecuting Authority Act "as an accessory after the fact".
He said Ramaphosa's failure to act on the matter "enabled the perpetrator/s of and/or accomplices in the offense(s) to evade liability for their actions".
Responding to the summons, Ramaphosa’s lawyers served Zuma with legal papers, demanding that the former president withdraw the private prosecution.
Late on Saturday night, Zuma’s legal team, responding to Ramaphosa’s earlier claims that he may ignore the summons served on him, said that in South Africa, a summons could not be ignored, and cited a legal precedent to that effect.
This was in response to a letter by the Office of the State Attorney which, on Saturday afternoon, said Zuma’s summons to Ramaphosa over the Billy Downer matter was defective, served at the wrong address (at Ramaphosa’s private home instead of the state residence), and an abuse of the law.
Ramaphosa’s legal team questioned the timing of the summons, which coincided with the ANC’s national elective conference.
Zuma’s team said they had wanted the summons issued last week but the president had said he was not available.
Zuma has also indicated he would also be instituting a private prosecution against Ramaphosa over the Phala Phala scandal.
Meanwhile, Mkhize, who is not facing court action, told delegates at Nasrec that he wanted to ANC factions to come to an end.
"We are here to bury the cabal. We are here to build a united and strong ANC that will focus on ensuring prosperity for all. We all know that, as comrades, we have different views. Tell them, as well as those who are against you, that you are also voting in their interests. Tell them they must trust us, and the ANC needs all of us," Mkhize told his supporters.
The ANC National Conference is the showcase of the political year, with about 4 000 delegates from across the country, representing the country’s nine provinces, expected to cast their votes for their preferred candidates.
The Star
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