South Africa: Judge dismisses Zuma’s effort to delay corruption trial
Mai Gail 
South Africa: Judge dismisses Zuma’s effort to delay corruption trial
Zuma who was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment for defying a Constitutional Court order to testify at a state-backed commission of inquiry on corruption allegations during his tenure and for which His imprisonment last year sparked riots in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces in which more than 300 died with an estimated $1.7bn damage in property losses, has his trial now scheduled to begin on April 11
On Wednesday, a South African court presided by Pietermaritzburg High Court Judge Piet Koen has dismissed former President Jacob Zuma’s attempt to remove the prosecutor from his upcoming corruption trial on the grounds that Zuma’s attempt to remove the prosecutor “lacks reasonable prospects of success. A case in which Zuma's lawyers keep appealing
“The application for leave to appeal and all related applications … are all dismissed,” . “The criminal trial shall proceed.”Koen said in court.
In 2018 Zuma was overthrown as South Africa’s presiden by his party, the ruling African National Congress on the grounds labelling corruption during his nine-year term. Zuma also faces 16 counts of fraud, corruption, and racketeering related to the purchase of fighter jets, patrol boats, and equipment from five European arms firms.
He also stands accused of receiving bribes from French arms manufacturer Thales through his former financial adviser Schabir Shaik. Downer led the prosecution that resulted in Shaik’s conviction and sentencing on related charges in 2005.
His lawyers accused Downer of leaking confidential case information to the media and being a witness in a separate case against the former leader by the opposition party, the Democratic Alliance.
In May 2021, the trial began after repeated postponements as Zuma’s legal team battled to have the charges dropped. Efforts to have the prosecutor removed keep getting stalled at the start of Zuma’s corruption trial, which is now scheduled to begin on April 11.In September, Zuma was released from prison on medical parole, for an undisclosed ailment. Three months later, the courts declared his parole invalid and ordered him to return to prison, a decision that his lawyers are appealing.
Zuma’s lawyers still have the option to petition the country’s Supreme Court of Appeal. A move which could further delay the corruption trial.
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