Chantelle Benjamin
31 December 2007
Johannesburg — THE Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the Young Communist League (YCL) have no faith in the judiciary's objectivity when it comes to the coming corruption trial of African National Congress (ANC) president Jacob Zuma, due to political pressure from the government, they say.
The two groups, and the South African Communist Party (SACP) called at the weekend for charges against Zuma to be dropped because of the inability to give him a fair trial and for the "reopening of the investigation of the arms deal", so that "all those involved could be brought to book".
Zuma, who is scheduled to go on trial on August 14 next year on 18 charges of corruption, fraud, racketeering and money laundering totalling R4m, was charged afresh three days after Christmas and less than two weeks before he is to deliver his first ANC anniversary address as its new president .
Cosatu spokesman Patrick Craven said yesterday: "It does not matter who the judge is, we do not believe the judiciary will be able to be objective. The trial against Zuma is a politically motivated exercise ... and he has been subjected to trial by public opinion for the past seven years.
"We have been convinced for some time that he will not get a fair trial, after (then National Prosecuting Authority head Bulelani) Ngcuka announced to the media that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) had a prima facie case against Zuma."
Concerns about objectivity come despite Zuma being acquitted of rape charges last year in the Johannesburg High Court, and SA having a reputation for an independent judiciary.
But Craven insists that this trial is different.
"There was never any concern that he would get a fair trial in the rape case, but this a politically inspired campaign, and ... state institutions have been, and are still being, manipulated and used to settle factional battles within the movement."
YCL spokesman Castro Ngobese said the organisation had been consistent in asking that Zuma be given his day in court, but that was under the assumption that it would be a fair trail.
Among allegations made by Cosatu, the YCL and the SACP -- in support of the claim that the motive for the trial is that President Thabo Mbeki and his camp are angry at him being ousted as ANC president at the party conference in Polokwane this month -- is that the acting national director of the NPA, Mokotedi Mpshe, was promised a full-time position if he pursued the case against Zuma. Mpshe was believed to have met "senior political office bearers" the day before making his decision to prosecute Zuma.
They also questioned the timing of the announcement of the new charges and why the NPA chose the last day of the ANC conference to announce to the media that it had sufficient evidence to prosecute Zuma.
Mpshe denied rumours that Mbeki was behind the charges against Zuma, saying Mbeki had not been aware there were plans to charge Zuma or what the charges were.
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