Former president Jacob Zuma registered another court loss on Tuesday, when the Pietermaritzburg High Court dismissed his application to have State advocate Billy Downer removed from the corruption trial.
Jacob Zuma loses bid to remove Billy Downer
Zuma made his second public appearance since his medical parole release in September 2021 at the PMB court docks, where Judge Piet Koen delivered his ruling on the former president’s removal application.
Primary to Zuma’s concerns, was the claim that Downer, whose led the Arms Deal case since the conviction of Schabir Shaik, did not hold the title to prosecute in the trial.
Secondly, the former president maintained, in his submission, that the veteran state prosecutor was neither independent, nor unbiased.
However, Judge Koen wholly dismissed Zuma’s application to recuse Downer. Moreover, the former president’s special plea to be acquitted of all charges in the event that the state prosecutor was removed from the case was also dismissed.
At the time this article was published, the court had adjourned to determine the date for the resumption of the trial.
It’s not over for Downer vs Zuma
Downer will be cautious about celebrating victory over Zuma in the recusal matter. After all, the former president did file criminal charges against the state prosecutor, citing allegations of gross misconduct.
In his affidavit, Zuma accused Downer of being part of an orchestrated plan to assassinate his character. The 79-year-old also accused the NPA veteran lawyer of leaking confidential medical information to the press on more than one occasion.
Investigations into Zuma’s claims are being led by Pietermaritzburg police and as yet, no updates have surfaced.