Cape Town — Former President, Jacob Zuma, suffered another defeat after his latest appeal against state advocate Billy Downer and journalist Karyn Maughan was dismissed by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA).
This is the third time Zuma has tried to institute a private prosecution against the two. The first came in September 2023 when he claimed that the State had illegally leaked Maughan what he deemed to be a “confidential” doctor’s note during the course of his arms deal corruption trial. Downer is the lead prosecutor in the case, EWN reported.
In June last year, the Pietermaritzburg High Court set the prosecution aside after finding that Zuma had instituted it with an ulterior motive and was abusing the process. He then tried to appeal the ruling in the Supreme Court of Appeal but was unsuccessful.
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According to SCA President Mahube Molemela dismissed Zuma’s bid in a two-page order after he found no exceptional circumstances warranting reconsideration of Zuma’s application for leave to appeal, The Citizen reported.
After Zuma unsuccessfully tried to appeal the ruling in the SCA, he approached Molemela directly for his case to be reconsidered, but this bid was dismissed on Wednesday.
This is the second defeat for Zuma in a week after his bid to force the removal of his arms deal corruption prosecutor Downer was dismissed by Judge Nkosinathi Chili presiding in the Pietermaritzburg High Court.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
