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Former President Jacob Zuma was scheduled to appeal a court ruling Friday that he had to pay millions of rand of legal costs out of his own pocket.
SABC News reported that Zuma, in documents filed with the Supreme Court of Appeals, maintained that the fraud and corruption charges against him were motivated by political revenge and spite.
Zuma is appealing a personal costs order issued against him by the North Gauteng High Court in December 2018, related to his failed attempt to review then-public protector Thuli Madonsela’s report on the “state of capture”. The report ultimately led to the establishment of the state capture commission of inquiry led by Supreme Court Vice President Raymond Zondo.
TimesLIVE reported in 2018 that Zuma would no longer receive state funding for his defense of the corruption trial. The court, at the time, ordered the state attorney “to take all necessary steps, including the initiation of civil proceedings” to recover the taxpayers’ money spent on these costs.
Judge Vice President Aubrey Ledwaba ruled that Zuma, “like all other defendants in SA has the right to be represented by an attorney using his own resources or those offered by the Legal Aid Board.”
Zuma faces charges related to his relationship with his former financial adviser Schabir Shaik, who was convicted of holding Zuma, then vice president of the ANC and later vice president of SA, in a corrupt advance. In return, Zuma allegedly used his influence to further Shaik’s interests.
