The high court in Pietermaritzburg has ruled that former president Jacob Zuma tried to abuse court processes by privately prosecuting the lead prosecutor in his case and a journalist. He has been ordered to pay both their legal fees.

The high court in Pietermaritzburg has interdicted former president Jacob Zuma from continuing his attempted private prosecution of prosecutor Billy Downer and journalist Karyn Maughan, calling his case an abuse of power.

Zuma had tried to prosecute Downer for allegedly leaking his medical records to Maughan. The records were included in the court documents in Zuma's court case and the court has found that the documents were public records.

The judgment was handed down in a brief hearing on Wednesday. The order says Zuma is "restrained from reinstituting proceedings or from taking any further steps pursuant to the private prosecution" of Maughan. He is also interdicted from pursuing any private prosecution "on substantially the same charges as those advanced in the summons set aside" against Downer. Zuma has been ordered to pay legal costs for both.

No certificate to prosecute Maughan

Zuma had initially obtained a certificate in June 2022 to prosecute Downer after the National Prosecuting Authority declined to do so the previous year. Zuma later added Maughan as an "accused".

In the written judgment, judges Gregory Kruger, Jacqui Henriques and Thokozile Masipa wrote that the criminal summons against Maughan is unlawful as she is not mentioned anywhere in...