South African President Jacob Zuma is accused of corruption, fraud, money-laundering and racketeering. FILE PHOTO | NMG
South African President Jacob Zuma has provided arguments on why
he should not be prosecuted for corruption, the state prosecutor said
on Thursday, as pressure mounted for the scandal-plagued leader to step
down.
Zuma, who has faced and denied numerous
corruption allegations since taking office, submitted documents on
Wednesday night to the National Prosecuting Agency (NPA) providing
reasons why 783 counts of corruption relating to a 30 billion rand ($2
billion) arms deal arranged in the late 1990s should not be reinstated.
NPA
Head Shaun Abrahams “personally received the representations from the
legal representatives of Mr Zuma late yesterday evening” and would
announce the next course of action later, the NPA’s spokesman Luvuyo
Mfaku said.
The NPA had extended the deadline to the
end of January for Zuma to make his representations before deciding
whether to proceed against him.
Appeal
South
Africa’s High Court reinstated the graft charges in April 2016 and the
Supreme Court upheld that decision in October, rejecting an appeal by
Zuma and describing the NPA’s decision to set aside the charges as
“irrational”.
Zuma has faced numerous calls to
step-down within the ruling African National Congress (ANC), which has
admitted to having discussed removing him as president before the end of
his term in mid-2019..
Zuma’s ties to the Gupta family
— whose members include a trio of businessmen accused of using their
ties to Zuma to amass wealth and influence government policy — has seen
him face mounting calls to step down. The Guptas and Zuma deny any
wrongdoing.
Zuma, 75, has seen a reversal of fortune
since Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa succeeded him as ANC leader last
month. Zuma still retains the support of a faction within the ANC, but
no longer holds a top ANC post.
State address
The opposition has called for Zuma to be removed from office before delivering the State of the Nation Address on February 8.
South Africa’s parliament said Zuma will deliver the speech as planned.
“There
are processes going on, every day and every night, and at this point
the information we have is that the head of state is President Jacob
Zuma,” Baleka Mbete, the speaker of parliament, told reporters.
“So,
as far as we are concerned that is who is going to deliver the State of
the Nation Address until we hear different information.”
At
last year’s speech, far-left opposition lawmakers brawled with
orderlies after interrupting the speech and the main opposition party
walked out.
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