Jacob Zuma vs Billy Downer: Leave to Appeal Case Continues in Pietermaritzburg

• Former president Jacob Zuma's leave to appeal case continues in the Pietermaritzburg High Court
• Zuma wants to have advocate Billy Downer withdrawn from his case after a previous appeal was dismissed by Judge Piet Koen
• It is estimated that over 500 of Zuma's supporters will congregate outside the court to demonstrate their belief in his innocence

PIETERMARITZBURG - Today (31 January) Jacob Zuma has returned to the Pietermaritzburg High Court to continue his leave to appeal to dismiss a special plea to have advocate Billy Downer withdrawn from his case for allegedly leaking the former president's medical records.

Zuma previously applied for Downer to be taken off the case, which was viewed as a method of delaying his trial. The former president is accused of corruption and accepting bribes, amongst other offences.

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According to The Witness, more than 500 Zuma supporters are expected to gather outside the court during today's proceedings, but they are not marching or protesting. They will simply gather to show their support for Zuma.

Zuma's complaint against Downer

Judge Piet Koen dismissed Zuma's previous complaint that Downer does not possess the rank to prosecute a former president. Judge Koen has set the date for Zuma's arms deal trial in April 2022, IOL reports.

“As the complaint was only made in argument and then in reply, Mr Downer did not have an opportunity to respond thereto. I accordingly also did not have the benefit of the issue having been dealt with fully in the argument," Koen said.

Zuma has now appealed against Koen's judgment, which involves the National Prosecuting Authority, which has assembled a task team to investigate if the former president's argument holds any merit.

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Responses to Zuma's latest trial developments

@EzeeT remarked:

"Waste of time."

@ZeldalaGrangeSA asked:

@TerencetomC believes:

"We defend criminals."

@LelanieBoulle shared:

"Just ask the Australian government how to get rid of someone."

@SbuKinPmb said:

Zuma and Tom Moyane fingered in the demise of SARS, colluded with private sector

In other news about Zuma, Briefly News previously reported that the State Capture Report has stated that former President Jacob Zuma played a key role in the demise of the South African Revenue Service (SARS).

The report that was made public on Tuesday evening, 4 January found that SARS operations under the leadership of Tom Moyane are an indication of state capture.

Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo wrote in the report that Moyane's restructuring of the tax authority made it quite hard for authorities to probe illegal dealings within SARS.

Source: Briefly News