South Africans Will No Longer Be Paying For Jacob Zuma's Legal Fees
Former South African president, Jacob Zuma, will have to foot the bill for his own legal fees. And, he'll have to pay back the legal fees the state incurred.
The High Court in Pretoria has just ruled that former President Jacob Zuma will have to bear his own legal costs as they will no longer be the responsibility of the state.
<p>Since <strong>Jacob Zuma</strong>'s resignation from the South African Presidency, he has been cooped up in court on over <a href="https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/zuma-to-face-18-charges-20180224" target="_blank">18 charges of corruption</a> including racketeering, fraud and money laundering, all of which span the last decade and marred his tenure as president. The state, making use of taxpayers' money, assumed responsibility for the legal fees incurred by Zuma following a 2006 agreement that he signed whilst under then President <strong>Thabo Mbeki</strong>. </p><p><div class="preroll-video"></div><ora-player></ora-player></p><p>Before President <strong>Cyril Ramaphosa,</strong> who takes morning walks with his citizens and champions the late Bra <strong>Hugh Masekela</strong>'s inspiring '<em>thuma mina</em>' message, there was Jacob Zuma. His tenure as president was a whirlwind of state coffers being used to build his R250 million homestead in <strong><a href="https://www.heraldlive.co.za/news/2014-03-19-nkandla-story-in-a-nutshell/" target="_blank">Nkandla</a> </strong>and dirty dealings being made with the infamous <strong>Gupta </strong>family—helping South Africans become more <em>au fait</em> with the term "<a href="https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/state-capture-inquiry-guptas-would-summon-ministers-zuma-to-their-home-and-boast-about-it-ramatlhodi-20181128" target="_blank">state capture</a>." </p><p>There were <a href="https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2017-09-14-bell-pottinger-mckinsey-kpmg--big-names-tarnished-by-the-guptas/" target="_blank">global corporates</a>, the likes of <strong>McKinsey</strong>, <strong>KPMG</strong> and <strong>Bell Pottinger </strong>engaging in either corruption or deliberately stirring racial tensions within the country to aid the Guptas and Zuma in pocketing even more from the state. At one point, the charges against Zuma were dropped in 2009 after the discovery of the infamous spy tapes which were said to have "tainted" the investigation of Zuma by the specialized crime unit the <strong>Scorpions. </strong>However, the charges were <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2018-03-16-npa-reinstates-charges-against-former-president-jacob-zuma/" target="_blank">reinstated </a>by the <strong>National Prosecuting Authority</strong> (NPA) earlier this year.</p><p><div class="dfp_atf-slot" data-not-loaded="true"></div><script type="text/javascript">
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</script></p><p>The country's major opposition party, the <strong>Democratic Alliance</strong> (DA), teamed up with the <strong>Economic Freedom Fighters</strong> (EFF) and filed a <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/live-da-goes-to-court-over-jacob-zumas-legal-fees-17788859" target="_blank">court application</a> in March this year for Zuma to be responsible for his own legal fees despite the 2006 agreement he signed based on the State Attorney Act. Following the court's decision today, the DA took to social media to express their delight over the victory.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="23513" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="WOW24L1544702938"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1073149492789198848" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Observing the judgement!
We will continue to ensure that those who brought our country into disrepute face the ful… https://t.co/fOxHutsDkF</div> — Democratic Alliance (@Democratic Alliance)<a href="https://twitter.com/Our_DA/statuses/1073149492789198848">1544693751.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>The court's decision will see Zuma having to pay back between R16 and 32 million worth of legal fees. <br></p>
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