Former president of SA Jacob Zuma is said to have spent R30m in legal costs at taxpayers’ expense. Jacob Zuma’s lawyers have dismissed the DA and the EFF’s bid to force him to pay back millions of rand in legal costs as lacking sufficient evidence to challenge a decisionthat had been made about 12 years ago.
Jacob Zuma’s lawyer advocate Thabani Masuku asked the North Gauteng high court in Pretoria yesterday to dismiss the parties’ application for Zuma to pay back the money he used towards his legal costs on cases relating to the arms deal saga.
The EFF approximated about R30m of taxpayers’ money as the money used to fund Zuma’s legal costs.
Masuku said the application by the two parties fell way outside the 180 days allowed for the review of administrative decisions.
“They have delayed bringing this application … the parties knew that there was a decision to fund Mr Zuma’s legal costs,” argued Masuku.
He argued that the court had no authority to entertain the application, which seeks to review a decision taken “12 or 14 years ago”. He additionally said that whether the decision was lawful or not, it got justified by the delay taken to challenge it.
DA lawyer advocate Sean Rosenberg reiterated by saying Zuma was not entitled to have his legal fees paid by the state on the arms deal prosecution because the alleged criminality took place while he was not “furthering any government interest”.
The charges faced by Jacob Zuma relate to more than 700 questionable payments the former president is believed to have received in connection with the government’s controversial multi-
billion rand arms deal.
Both parties – the DA and the EFF want the court to declare that the state is not liable for Zuma’s legal costs.
According to the DA lawyer when he spoke to the high court, there were two other cases that Zuma’s legal costs were settled despite not being approved by the director-general in the presidency.
“It appears to be unlawful that funding took place where no final decision was made,” Rosenberg told the court.
Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, representing the EFF, argued that Zuma received special treatment due to his position in government and the ANC.
Former president Thabo Mbeki and the office of the state attorney apparently committed to paying Zuma’s legal fees back in the mid 2000s.
The hearing will continue today.
-Sowetan Live
