By John Ikani
Former president Jacob Zuma’s legal team has once again managed to temporarily stop their client from standing trial in a matter that has been in and out of the courts for close to 20 years.
The former president failed to turn up to Monday’s hearing at Pietermaritzburg court, saying he was too ill to attend.
His legal representatives requested that the start of the trial be postponed until the Supreme Court of Appeal decides on Zuma’s effort to have state prosecutor Billy Downer removed from the case.
Zuma accuses Downer of bias against him, and has pleaded not guilty to charges of corruption, money laundering and racketeering over a $2bn arms deal in the 1990s. The case is set to resume on May 17.
The delay is the latest of many – it has been nearly 17 years since Zuma was first charged in the controversial 1999 arms deal.
While Zuma has publicly said he wants his day in court, he has over the years launched numerous legal actions that have delayed the start of the trial.
The Ex-President who will turn 80 on Tuesday is currently on medical parole from a 15-month prison sentence following his conviction last year of contempt of court for defying a Constitutional Court order to appear before a judicial commission investigating corruption during his presidential term from 2009 to 2018.
