South African prosecutors are poised to drop corruption charges against the African National Congress leader, Jacob Zuma, who is expected to be elected president next month, local media said.
The Sunday Independent newspaper in Johannesburg said that the national prosecuting authority (NPA) would withdraw the case this week after fresh evidence of alleged political interference by the administration of former South African president Thabo Mbeki. The decision would be a significant election boost to the ANC, which chose Zuma as its candidate for the April 22 election, although he was due to go on trial in August.
“The evidence in the possession of Zuma’s legal team means acting prosecutions boss Mokotedi Mpshe is expected to bite the bullet and drop the charges against Zuma within days,” the Sunday Independent reported. “Those close to the NPA are ‘very positive’ [that] Mpshe will make a decision after consulting his lieutenants on Monday.”
The case against Zuma, who maintains his innocence, contributed to the ousting of Mbeki and led to a split in the ANC, which has governed the country unchallenged since the end of apartheid. The opposition Democratic Alliance has warned that dropping the case would strongly damage the rule of law.
Prosecutors had charged Zuma with 16 counts of corruption, bribery, money laundering and racketeering involving about 4 million rand (US$422,000). The eight-year legal battle formed part of a wider investigation into a multibillion-dollar government arms deal that resulted in Zuma’s former financial adviser, Schabir Shaik, being sentenced to 15 years in jail for bribery before being controversially granted “medical parole” on March 3, after serving 28 months.
Following Shaik’s conviction in 2005, Mbeki sacked Zuma as vice president but saw his rival gain revenge by toppling him as party leader in 2007. In September last year the high court dismissed the case against Zuma on a technicality, suggesting that there had been political interference by Mbeki as part of a power struggle within the ANC. Within days of the judgment Mbeki agreed to quit as president at the party’s request.
The saga took another twist in January when the appeals court rejected the high court decision, saying the judge had “failed to distinguish between allegation, fact and fiction.” Zuma’s lawyers then approached prosecutors with evidence over the role of Mbeki and other government ministers in allegedly influencing the prosecution of their client.
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