Johannesburg – The Jacob Zuma Foundation has announced that the former President will be instituting a private prosecution against the lead prosecutor in his corruption case, Billy Downer.
This comes after the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) on Tuesday announced it had issued a nolle prosequi certificate in the matter.
Zuma last year opened a criminal case against Downer for “leaking” a medical note from his military doctor to the media.
This despite the fact that his own lawyers had filed the note with the court as part of an application to postpone his case due to his ill health at the time.
The NPA maintains the case is baseless and cannot be sustained and in April announced its decision not to prosecute Downer.
In the statement, the Jacob Zuma Foundation welcomed the issue of the nolle prosequi certificate.
To: All Media
The Private Prosecution of the NPA's Adv Billy Downer will go ahead. pic.twitter.com/JAB3V5tcnE— JGZuma Foundation (Official) (@JGZ_Foundation) June 8, 2022
It said that the former president now had three months to institute a private prosecution but that he would do so “long before that date”.
Zuma’s legal team earlier said it had already started all the preparations, and a draft charge had already been prepared.
In the meantime, the foundation has again called on National Director of Public Prosecutions Shamila Batohi to remove Downer from the case.
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