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South Africa: Court orders charges against embattled President Zuma to be reviewed
A South African court has ruled that a decision to drop 738 corruption charges against President Jacob Zuma should be reviewed, adding to the leader’s legal troubles.
Judge Aubrey Ledwaba’s ruling Friday allows prosecutors to re-open charges against Zuma which are linked to a multi-billion dollar arms deal in 1999.
Zuma has denied all the allegations.
The charges against Zuma were dropped in 2009 shortly before the election in which he became president. The decision of the Director of Public Prosecutions at the time – Mokotedi Mpshe – was based on phone intercepts presented by Zuma’s legal team that suggested the timing of the charges in late 2007 may have been part of a political plot against him.
The current case was brought by the opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA).
Zuma is already under pressure over the decision by the Constitutional Court, South Africa’s highest court, that the president failed to uphold the constitution by not repaying state funds used to improve his private residence.
Source: Associated Press