JOHANNESBURG – The North Gauteng High Court on Wednesday ordered President Zuma to personally pay for his aborted legal bid to block the release of the State of Capture report.
This follows after President Jacob Zuma abandoned his bid to interdict Public Protector’s State of Capture report on the second day of the multi-million-rand court battle.
The ruling by the court was much applauded the opposition parties, largely the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).
EFF leader Julius Malema told journalists that, “We are putting a very strong argument that Zuma must pay the costs personally…once the costs are from Zuma’s pocket, then all ministers are going to learn to take advice, all ministers are going to learn not to take hasty decisions out of anger, and out of emotions.”
Malema applauded the court for the decision and hopes that everyone involved in the state capture debacle faces the full might of the law without any compromises.
The same court last week ruled that Zuma’s appointment of prosecutions head Shaun Abrahams was unlawful and should be reviewed.
Judge President Dustan Mlambo said, “There is the broader pattern of the president’s conduct in litigation of defending what turns out, on the president’s version, to have been the indefensible all along”, said Judge President Dustan Mlambo.
Mlambo also highlighted how Zuma tried to delay arguments leading to this case, adding that the president did nothing when informed by the public protector that there were complaints about his action.
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